Modern Earth Science Chapter 6 Terms

Front 1

Earthquakes

Back 1

Vibrations of the earths crust.

Front 2

Elastic Rebound Theory

Back 2

If fault is locked stress builds up until rock factures and then it springs back to the original position.

Front 3

Aftershocks

Back 3

Small post-earthquake tremors caused by Elastic Rebound

Front 4

Focus

Back 4

Area along fault where slippage first occurs.

Front 5

Epicenter

Back 5

Point directly above the focus

Front 6

Pacific Ring of Fire

Back 6

The largest earthquake zone. Most plates are subducted while others scrape past each other.

Front 7

Fault Zones

Back 7

Groups of interconnected faults. They form at plate boundaries because of the intense stress caused when plates separate, collide, subduct, or slide past each other.

Front 8

P waves

Back 8

Primary Waves. Move fastest and move through solids and liquids. Rock part

Front 9

S waves

Back 9

Secondary Waves. Slower than P waves and can only travel through solids. Rock particles move at right angles to the direction of the waves.

Front 10

L Waves

Back 10

P waves and S waves turn into L waves or long waves. They are the slowest moving waves. They tavel like ocean waves.

Front 11

microquakes

Back 11

Earthquakes with a magnitude less than 2.5 on the richter scale.

Front 12

Mercalli scale

Back 12

Expresses the intensity of tghe quake. Ex. II "Felt only by a few persons at rest, espcially on upper floors of buildings. Delicatly suspended objects may swing"

Front 13

Intensity

Back 13

The amount of damage a quake causes.

Front 14

Tsunami

Back 14

Giant ocean waves caused by an ocean floor earthquake.

Front 15

Seismic Gaps

Back 15

A place where the fault is locked and unable to move. Scientist think that they are places of future earthquakes.