Vocab for Science
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24 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Stress | pressure or tension exerted on a material object |
| Fault | a break in Earth's crust where slabs of crust slip past each other. |
| Compression | pushing closer together |
| Tension | stretching |
| Shear | sliding in opposite directions |
| Earthquake | shaking and trembling that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth's surface. |
| Focus | the point beneath Earth's surface where the stressed rock breaks causing an earthquake |
| Epicenter | the point on the surface above the focus |
| Elastic rebound theory | explains how the rock in the crust behaves |
| Seismic waves | the waves produced by earthquakes |
| Primary waves | longitudinal seismic waves |
| Secondary waves | transverse seismic waves |
| Surface waves | When primary waves and secondary waves reach Earth's surface, some of them are transformed |
| Triangulation | a trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points a known distance apart |
| Seismograph | will record the resulting ground movements caused by the seismic waves |
| Magnitude | a measurement of its strength based on seismic waves and movement along faults |
| Mercalli scale | uses the damage reported by observers to determine how intense the earthquake waves were at that spot |
| Richter scale | rates earthquakes according to the size of seismic waves as measured by a seismograph, is a more common method for describing earthquakes |
| Moment Magnitude scale | rates the total amount of energy released |
| Seismologist | Scientists who study earthquakes |
| Aftershock | a smaller earthquake that occurs after a larger earthquake in the same area |
| Liquefaction | occurs when an earthquake's violent shaking turns loose, soft soil into liquid mud. |
| Tsunami | An earthquake on the ocean floor causes the floor to rise slightly and push water out of its way |
| Earthquake risk | locating where faults are active and where past earthquakes have occurred |
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