Some Notes on Planet Earth and Earthquakes

Question 1

Third largest planet from the sun; almost spherical, flattened slightly at the poles

Answer 1

Earth

Question 2

Earth’s mean distance from the sun

Answer 2

149,500,000 km

Question 3

Equatorial diameter

Answer 3

12,755 km

Question 4

Earth’s circumference

Answer 4

40,070 km

Question 5

Composition of the earth’s atmosphere

Answer 5

78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.037% carbon dioxide

Question 6

Composition of the surface of the earth

Answer 6

30% land and 70% water

Question 7

The land areas on earth are characterized by

Answer 7

plains, valleys, mountains, hills, and plateau

Question 8

Formed when the lower portions of the earth’s surface are filled up with water

Answer 8

Ocean basin

Question 9

The highest mountain on land

Answer 9

Mt. Everest (8,800 meters)

Question 10

The deepest in the Philippines

Answer 10

Marianas trench (11,034 m)

Question 11

Innermost part of the earth; thought to consist of nickel-alloy

Answer 11

Core

Question 12

The core is divided into

Answer 12

Outer core - 2,900 km depth (liquid); inner core - 4,980 km (solid)

Question 13

Temperature in the core is thought to be

Answer 13

4,000 degrees C

Question 14

The result of the liquid metal in the outer core

Answer 14

Earth’s magnetic field

Question 15

Lies below the crust; 2,800 km beneath the Earth’s crust; 67% of the Earth’s mass; region of greater rock density

Answer 15

Mantle

Question 16

Subdivisions of the mantle

Answer 16

Upper and lower mantles

Question 17

The mantle is primarily composed of

Answer 17

magnesium, silicon and oxygen in the form of silicate materials

Question 18

Rocky outer layer of the earth

Answer 18

Crust

Question 19

Type of crust that is about 10 km thick; mostly basaltic rock overlain by muddy sediments

Answer 19

Oceanic crust

Question 20

Largely granitic composition; more complex in structure; parts of the crust is over 3.6 billion years

Answer 20

Continental crust

Question 21

Direction where the earth spins on its axis

Answer 21

West to East (counter-clockwise)

Question 22

Time in which the earth completes one full turn

Answer 22

23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.09 seconds

Question 23

Produces day and night

Answer 23

Rotation of the earth

Question 24

Abrupt motion that propagates through the earth and along its surfaces

Answer 24

Earthquake

Question 25

Causes earthquakes

Answer 25

Sudden release in rocks of strain accumulated over time as a result of tectonics

Question 26

Study of earthquakes

Answer 26

Seismology

Question 27

Where earthquakes mostly occur

Answer 27

Faults (fractures or breaks) and Benoiff zones

Question 28

The point at which an earthquake originates

Answer 28

Seismic focus or hypocenter

Question 29

The point on the earth’s surface directly above it

Answer 29

Epicenter

Question 30

Movements that generate the major proportion; as two plates move past each other they can become jammed

Answer 30

Plate tectonic movements

Question 31

Released when a sufficient strain has accumulated and the rocks break as the plates spring free

Answer 31

Seismic waves

Question 32

The force of earthquakes

Answer 32

Magnitude

Question 33

Measures the force of earthquakes

Answer 33

Richter scale

Question 34

Richter scale was developed by

Answer 34

Charles Richter in 1935

Question 35

Use of the Richter scale

Answer 35

Quantifying the magnitude, or strength, of earthquakes

Question 36

Japan is amongst the most vulnerable location along the

Answer 36

Pacific Asian Ring of Fire