Deck 10: A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes

Question 1

Which type of fault does NOT,by definition,have a fault trace?

A)normal fault
B)reverse fault
C)blind fault
D)None of the above are correct;all faults have recognizable traces.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Geologists who specifically study earthquakes are called ____________.

A)seismologists
B)paleontologists
C)vulcanologists
D)speleologists

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The intersection between a fault plane and the ground surface is called the ____________.

A)dip line
B)plunge
C)fault trace
D)seismic interface

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The quantity of offset that occurs along a fault is termed ____________.

A)fault gouge
B)the fault gauge
C)displacement
D)accumulation

Question 5

At any point along the surface of an oblique (nonvertical)fault,the ____________.

A)hanging wall lies vertically above the footwall
B)footwall lies vertically above the hanging wall
C)hanging wall lies to the left of the footwall
D)footwall lies to the left of the hanging wall

Question 6

Which type of earthquake has the highest velocity?

A)L-wave
B)P-wave
C)R-wave
D)S-wave

Question 7

Faulting and earthquakes are examples of ____________.

A)brittle behavior
B)ductile behavior

Question 8

A primary force opposing motion on all faults is ____________.

A)magnetic attraction among iron-rich minerals
B)gravity
C)friction
D)Van der Waal's force

Question 9

All discovered faults are likely to experience earthquakes in the next few hundred years.

Question 10

If a fault is nearly vertical in orientation and the two walls of rock on opposite sides slide past one another horizontally,the fault is termed ____________.

A)normal
B)reverse
C)strike slip
D)thrust

Question 11

If,during an earthquake,a footwall slides upward relative to a hanging wall,the fault is termed ____________.

A)normal
B)reverse
C)strike slip
D)thrust

Question 12

Periods of intermittent sliding on a fault as a result of the release of stress during episodes of displacement,followed by stress buildup to the point that the fault is reactivated is termed ____________.

A)chaotic faulting
B)thrust faulting
C)stick-slip behavior
D)reverse faulting

Question 13

Body waves include ____________.

A)both S- and P-waves
B)both L- and R-waves
C)both surface and interior waves
D)P-waves only

Question 14

If,during an earthquake,a hanging wall slides upward relative to a footwall,the fault is termed ____________ if the fault is steep (closer to vertical than horizontal).

A)normal
B)reverse
C)strike slip
D)thrust

Question 15

Earthquakes are a result of ____________.

A)a sudden change in atmospheric pressure
B)mantle upwelling
C)erosion
D)lithosphere-plate movement

Question 16

Aftershocks following a major earthquake ____________.

A)may continue for days after the initial earthquake
B)are mostly much smaller than the original earthquake
C)may occur on the same fault as the original earthquake,or a different fault
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 17

Faults that have moved recently or are likely to move in the future are referred to as ____________.

A)passive
B)active
C)normal
D)reverse

Question 18

If,during an earthquake,a hanging wall slides upward relative to a footwall,the fault is termed ____________ if the fault is shallow (much closer to horizontal than vertical).

A)normal
B)reverse
C)strike slip
D)thrust

Question 19

A surface along which rock on opposed sides is offset by earthquake-induced slip is called a ____________.

A)joint
B)fault
C)fold
D)wall

Question 20

Movement on a fault may occur without generating earthquakes.

Question 21

The point on Earth's surface directly above the point where an earthquake occurs is termed the ____________.

A)hypocenter (focus)
B)epicenter
C)eye of the fault
D)vertex

Question 22

Which earthquake severity scale takes into account the type of rock that has been fractured?

A)Richter scale
B)Mercalli scale
C)seismic-moment magnitude scale

Question 23

The point within Earth where an earthquake takes place is termed the ____________.

A)hypocenter (focus)
B)epicenter
C)eye of the fault
D)vertex

Question 24

Earthquake waves that pass through the interior of Earth are termed ____________.

A)interior waves
B)R-waves
C)surface waves
D)body waves

Question 25

How many seismic stations are necessary to find the epicenter of an earthquake?

A)one
B)two
C)three
D)four

Question 26

All else being equal,an earthquake that strikes in the eastern United States would produce shaking that would be felt ____________ than one that occurred in the western United States.

A)over a greater distance
B)over a lesser distance
C)over the same distance

Question 27

According to the moment magnitude scale (Mw)-a magnitude 8 earthquake would be 1,000 times greater than a magnitude ____________ earthquake.

A)9
B)5
C)7
D)4

Question 28

An earthquake occurs with an epicenter in the town of New Madrid,Missouri,in the interior of the North American Plate.Where might the hypocenter of this earthquake plausibly be found?

A)in New Madrid ("hypocenter" and "epicenter" mean precisely the same thing)
B)10 km south of New Madrid
C)20 km beneath New Madrid
D)200 km beneath New Madrid

Question 29

Vertical motion seismographs record earthquakes through the production of a squiggly diagram called a ____________.

A)wave sheet
B)seismogram
C)pictogram
D)camera lucida

Question 30

Which earthquake intensity scale assesses the effects of an earthquake on humans and human-made structures?

A)Richter scale
B)Mercalli scale
C)seismic-moment magnitude scale

Question 31

Which earthquake severity scale takes vibration caused only by the S-waves into account when estimating the size of an earthquake?

A)Richter scale
B)Mercalli scale
C)seismic-moment magnitude scale

Question 32

A coiled spring would be useful in illustrating a ____________ wave.

A)surface
B)body
C)shear
D)compressional

Question 33

Generally,which type of earthquake waves travel fastest?

A)interior waves
B)R-waves
C)surface waves
D)body waves

Question 34

Surface waves ____________.

A)travel more rapidly than body waves
B)produce most of the damage to buildings during earthquakes
C)are the first waves initially produced in an earthquake
D)are the first waves to arrive at a seismograph station after an earthquake

Question 35

The greatest earthquake ever recorded by seismographs occurred in 1960 in Chile and measured ____________ on the seismic-moment magnitude scale.

A)9.0
B)9.5
C)10.0
D)10.5

Question 36

On December 26,2004,a magnitude 9 earthquake generated a tsunami that devastated coastlines on the ____________.

A)Atlantic Ocean
B)Arctic Ocean
C)Indian Ocean
D)Pacific Ocean

Question 37

Which earthquake severity scale varies from locality to locality for a single earthquake?

A)Richter scale
B)Mercalli scale
C)seismic-moment magnitude scale

Question 38

A tsunami is ____________.

A)an earthquake-generated sea wave that can sometimes destroy coastal cities thousands of kilometers from its source
B)a sloshing of water back and forth within a lake or bay
C)the amount of change in elevation of local sea level caused by a surging wave
D)the tendency of wet,clay-rich soils to behave like a liquid during an earthquake

Question 39

Earthquakes are likely to occur along ____________.

A)convergent-plate boundaries only
B)divergent-plate boundaries only
C)transform-plate boundaries only
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 40

Which earthquake severity scale measures the amplitude of deflection of a seismograph pen,standardized to an idealized distance of 100 km between epicenter and seismograph?

A)Richter scale
B)Mercalli scale
C)seismic-moment magnitude scale

Question 41

Medium- and deep-focus earthquakes occur along ____________.

A)convergent-plate boundaries only
B)divergent-plate boundaries only
C)transform-plate boundaries only
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 42

How can damage and injury be minimized in areas prone to seismic activity?

A)earthquake zoning
B)engineering controls
C)warning systems
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 43

Earthquakes that occur in a band called a ____________ can be used to track the motion of subducted oceanic lithosphere.

A)Wegener belt
B)seismic gap
C)Wadati-Benioff zone

Question 44

What geological setting(s)would you expect to produce seismic activity?

A)Rift valley
B)Basin
C)Collisional mountain belt
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 45

Long-term prediction of earthquake behavior ____________.

A)is based on past earthquake activity
B)works on the principle that zones of past seismicity will be active in the future
C)includes the notion of seismic gaps-places where an earthquake is "overdue"
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 46

Sandy substrate is susceptible to ____________ during an earthquake.

A)displacement
B)collapse
C)liquifaction
D)faulting

Question 47

Which of these areas of the United States would you expect to have the highest occurance of seismic activity?

A)Southeast
B)West
C)Northeast
D)Central

Question 48

Seismic retrofitting is the process of __________.

A)predicting earthquakes
B)strengthening existing buildings and structures
C)mapping areas prone to earthquakes
D)releasing energy

Question 49

Short-term predictions of earthquake behavior ____________.

A)have saved millions of lives in the past decade alone
B)have been largely unreliable
C)are primarily based on the behavior patterns of farm animals
D)are correct approximately 50% of the time

Question 50

Virtually all of the deaths attributed to major earthquakes have resulted from the collapse of buildings.