Earthquakes Passage

Which of the following best describes an earthquake?

• A large storm with very high speed winds

• A violent shaking of the Earth that occurs when two tectonic plates bump into each other

• An opening in the Earth's crust where magma erupts to the surface

• A large cloud that generates rain, hail, and lightning

What do scientists call the boundary between two tectonic plates?

• Vaults

• Epicenters

• Crusts

• Faults

What are the smaller earthquakes that occur before a large earthquake called?

• Foreshocks

• Faults

• Waves

• Aftershocks

What are the shock waves caused by an earthquake that travel through the ground called?

• Electromagnetic waves

• Seismic waves

• Microwaves

• Transverse waves

What does the Moment Magnitude Scale measure?

• The speed of the earthquake

• The length of the earthquake in time

• The damage caused by an earthquake

• The size of the earthquake in magnitude

What would you expect to occur from an earthquake that measured 3 on the MMS scale?

• You wouldn't feel it

• A slight shaking like a truck driving by

• Stuff would fall off your shelves

• Cracks in the streets and bridges

What would you expect to occur from an earthquake that measured 9 on the MMS scale?

• You wouldn't feel it

• A slight shaking like a truck driving by

• Stuff would fall off your shelves

• Whole buildings and cities flattened

What is the location deep inside the Earth were the earthquake began called?

• Quake point

• Hypocenter

• Epicenter

• Crust center

What is the location on the Earth's surface above where the earthquake began called?

• Quake point

• Hypocenter

• Epicenter

• Crust center

What U.S. state has the most earthquakes?

• California

• Texas

• Hawaii

• Alaska