Study Guide: Earthquake Mini-Quiz
Name: ___________________________________________________________ Section: _______
FYI: The quiz will include ten (10) of the following twenty (20) topics.
1. Know how to identify & label Hanging Wall (above the fault) and Foot Wall
(below the fault)
2. Know how to identify & label Normal Fault (tension) and Reverse Fault
(compression) and Strike-Slip Fault (shearing)
3. Know how to identify & label Divergent Plates (tension) and Convergent
Plates (compression) and Transform Plates (shearing)
4. Know how to identify & label the three stresses that affect rocks
underground: Tension, Compression, Shearing
5. Which fault caused the 1755 Cape Ann, Massachusetts earthquake? (The
Bloody Bluff-Lake Char Fault)
6. The strongest earthquake was 9.5 on the Richter Scale (in Chile, 1960)
7. The deadliest earthquake was in Shanshi, China in 1556 (830,000+ died)
8. Aftershock = series of minor earthquakes after the main quake
9. Liquefaction = loose, sandy sediment that flows like a liquid due to shaking
10. Richter Scale (Charles Richter, 1934) magnitude of energy released
compared to an equivalent amount of TNT explosive (0 to no upper limit)
11. Mercalli Scale (Giuseppe Mercalli, 1902) intensity of observed damage due to
an earthquake (Roman numeral I to XII)
12. 90% of earthquakes occur along plate boundaries
13. 10% of earthquakes occur along faults
14. Primary Waves: fastest, slinky, least destructive, can go through anything
15. Secondary Waves are second fastest, very destructive, travel like a rope up
and down, and also side to side, cannot travel through liquids
16. Surface Waves are slowest, most destructive, (Love and Rayleigh) and travel
in a twisting and rolling motion
17. California: San Andreas Fault (Pacific Plate and North American Plate
Boundary), Transform plate boundary (shearing)
18. Focus (underground) and Epicenter (on surface, above focus)
19. Seismoscope (dragon and toad), Seismograph, Seismogram, Seismometer
20. Tsunami Waves (caused by underwater earthquakes, asteroid impacts, or
landslides), tide rushes out very quickly before >>> seek higher ground!
BONUS: Earthquake Safety Procedure: Drop, Cover and Hold on