Earthquakes Flashcards
ring of fire
The Ring of Fire is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
Strike-slip fault
a fracture in the rocks of Earth’s crust in which the rock masses slip past one another parallel to the strike
Normal fault
Normal, or Dip-slip, faults are inclined fractures where the blocks have mostly shifted vertically.
Reverse fault
Reverse faults are exactly the opposite of normal faults.
P-waves
a seismic wave that causes particles of rock to move in a back and forth direction
S-waves
a seismic wave that causes particles of rock to move in a side to side direction.
epicenter
the point on the earth’s surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake.
focus
the point of origin of an earthquake.
Richter magnitude scale
assigns a number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake
explosive volcano
In volcanology, an explosive eruption is a volcanic eruption of the most violent type
nonexplosive volcano
Nonexplosive eruptions are the most common type of volcanic eruptions.
Krakatoa
Krakatoa, also transcribed Krakatau, is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung.
Yellowstone supervolcano
The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States.
San Andreas fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly 1,200 kilometers through California.
Mid-oceanic ridge
The mid-ocean ridge is a continuous range of undersea volcanic mountains that encircles the globe almost entirely underwater.
