Study Guide for the Earthquakes, Seismicity, and Building Hazards Test
Part I: Earthquakes and Seismicity:
 Know the types of stresses that occur at each of the three types of plate boundaries.
 Know which type of plate boundary has the deepest focus earthquakes. Know that the zone of earthquakes along a
down-going slab is called the Wadati-Benioff Zone
 Know the difference between focus and epicenter
 Understand the types of waves and the differences between them: P-wave (compressional), S-wave (shear), and
Surface waves (Love and Rayleigh)
 Know that seismic waves refract and reflect off layers of different densities within Earth, and that they accelerate
with increasing density.
 Know what causes shadow zones, and the differences between the P-wave and S-wave shadow zones
 Know how to identify a P-waves and and S-wave on a seismograph, and how to use a travel-time graph to determine
the distance to an earthquake from a seismograph station.
 Understand that the scale used to measure earthquake magnitude is logarithmic. Understand that each step on the
scale is a 10x increase in linear ground motion, and a 30x increase in total energy.
 Understand how Tsunamis form and why they are so dangerous when they approach a shoreline.
 Know several lines of evidence for past mega-quakes in the PNW region.
 Know the three tectonic settings where earthquakes occure in the PNW
Part II: Fault types
 Understand the difference between stress and strain
 Understand the types of strain: elastic, plastic, and brittle
 Understand the different types of faults: normal, revers, and strike-slip
 Know which is the hanging wall and which is the foot wall on either side of a fault plane.
Part III: Building Hazards During Earthquakes:
 Be able to describe several factors that put the Alaskan Way Viaduct at risk during an earthquake.
 Understand what causes liquefaction and what types of soils are more prone to liquefaction.
 Know the different types of building hazards, including pancaking, “bird-caging,” liquefaction, separation of
building from its base, toppling, chimney failure, fire due to broken gas lines
 Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the following building materials: wood, brick, concrete, and steel
(rebar)
 Know some solutions to either designing or retrofitting buildings, including bracing of chimneys, cross-beams,
trusses, extra support columns, anchor plates, underground center of mass, deep support columns, seismic isolation,
shear walls
 Understand how seismic isolation works
 Know what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. These include things like a plan of action about
reconnecting with family members, and how to check your house for damage (i.e. gas and water lines as well as
structural damage)
 Be able to list several essential items to have in an emergency earthquake kit
Vocabulary:
Bird-caging
Compressional Force
Epicenter
Focus
foot wall
hanging wall
Liquefaction
Love wave
Moment magnitude scale
normal fault
Pancaking
P-wave
Rayleigh wave
reverse fault
Richter scale
Seismic Gap
Seismic isolation
Seismograph
Shadow zone
Shear
strain
Stress
strike-slip fault
S-wave
Tensional Force
Travel time curve
Tsunami
Wadati-Benioff Zone