Exam 8: Earthquakes and Earths Interior

The study of earthquakes is called ____________________.

What causes earthquakes?

The two types of body waves are ____________________ wave and ____________________ waves.

What does the Richter Magnitude Scale measure,and why are scales of this type used more frequently than intensity scales?

Why do earthquakes of similar size often have such large differences in their destructiveness? Why are they so different in the number of people they kill?

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in North America was the intraplate quake known as the:

The focus of the most destructive earthquakes is almost always:

The velocities of P- and S-waves are determined by these two properties of the material they are passing through: ____________________ and ____________________.

Besides the distance to the epicenter of an earthquake,what are two other things that a seismograph can tell us?

The composition of the mantle is:

An instrument that detects,records,and measures vibrations produced by an earthquake is called a(n)____________________.

How is the seismic-moment magnitude scale different from the Richter Magnitude Scale?

The estimated average geothermal gradient in the mantle is:

How would an earthquake epicenter be located,using three seismograms,a map,and a protractor?

Why are earthquakes more likely to occur in Tokyo,Anchorage,and Los Angeles than they are in New York,London,or Paris?

The major discontinuity that occurs at a depth of 2,900 km below Earth's surface is the:

The S-wave shadow zone indicates that S-waves cannot be transmitted through the mantle.

Explain the differences between the magnitude and the intensity of an earthquake,in terms of cause and effect.

Explain the differences between the magnitude and the intensity of an earthquake,in terms of how each is measured or observed.

The ____________________ of an earthquake on the Richter Scale is determined by measuring the ____________________ of the largest recorded seismic wave.