Earthquakes

Question 1

What is an earthquake

Answer 1

Sudden shaking of the crust

Question 2

What is the common cause of earthquakes

Answer 2

Breakage and displacement of rock, often along a known fault

Question 3

Where are earthquakes most common

Answer 3

Near plate boundaries

Question 4

Earthquakes can also cause what other type of natural disaster

Answer 4

Tsunami

Question 5

Briefly explain the Elastic Rebound Theory that helps explain earthquakes

Answer 5

Energy is stored in the form of elastically deformed rock. When the strain exceeds the strength of the rock it breaks and the energy is released.

Question 6

What is focus and what is epicenter, and explain the difference

Answer 6

Focus is where the actual earthquake happened and epicentre is the spot closest to the focus on the surface

Question 7

What kind of boundaries are earthquakes common

Answer 7

All (divergent, convergent, and transform)

Question 8

What are intraplate earthquakes

Answer 8

Tend to occur in soft, weak areas of plate interiors, caused by stresses transmitted from plate boundaries and are poorly understood

Question 9

What is the Wadati-Benioff Zone

Answer 9

Occurs along a convergent boundary where one plate is subducting below another, see slide 17

Question 10

What are magnitude and intensity, and explain their difference

Answer 10

Magnitude measures the size of the earthquake, intensity measures the damage caused by an earthquake. So you can have an earthquake with a magnitude of 10 but an intensity of 1

Question 11

Look at slide 21-25 to see more on seismic waves

Answer 11

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