| Term | Definition |
|---|
| stress | a force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume |
| tension | a stress force that pulls on the crust, stretching rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle |
| compression | a stress force that squeezes rock until it folds and breaks |
| shearing | stress that pushes a mass of rock in two opposite directions |
| normal fault | caused by tension, a fault where the footwall rises as the plates pull apart |
| hanging wall | the part of the fault that is above the crack |
| footwall | the part of the fault that is below the crack |
| reverse fault | caused by compression, a fault where the hanging wall slides up over the footwall |
| strike-slip fault | caused by shearing, rocks on either side of the fault slide past each other sideways, not up or down |
| anticline | an upwards fold in rock |
| syncline | a downward fold in rock |
| plateau | a large area of flat land elevated high above sea level |
| fault block mountains | mountains formed when two parallel normal faults cut through a block of rock |
| earthquake | shaking and trembling that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth's surface |
| focus | the area beneath Earth's surface where rock that is under stress breaks, triggering an earthquake |
| epicenter | the point on the surface directly above the focus |
| seismic waves | vibrations that travel through Earth carrying the energy released during an earthquake |
| p waves | seismic waves that compress and expand the earth like an Accordion |
| s waves | seismic waves that vibrate from side to side as well as up and down |
| surface waves | seismic waves that move slowly but produce severe ground movements |
| Mercalli Scale | rates earthquakes according to the level of damage |
| Richter scale | rates earthquakes according to the size or magnitude of the seismic waves |
| seismograph | a tool that records and measures seismic waves |
| magnitude | a number assigned to earthquakes based on its size |
| moment magnitude scale | rates earthquakes according to their total energy |
| seismogram | a record of an earthquakes's seismic waves produced by a seismograph |
| friction | a force that opposes the motion of one surface as it moves across another surface |
| liquefaction | occurs when an earthquake's violent shaking suddenly turns loose soft soil into liquid mud |
| aftershock | earthquake that occurs after a larger earthquake in the same area |
| tsunami | a large wave caused by earthquakes under oceanic crust |
| base-isolated building | designed to reduce the amount of energy that reaches a building during an earthquake |
Combine with other sets
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