Question 1

A primary force opposing motion on all faults is

Accepted Answer

A) covalent bonds. 
B) gravity. 
C) friction. 
D) the Van der Waals force.

Question 2

The Mercalli intensity scale tends to be very subjective and thus is generally only used for historical earthquakes that were near people but were not recorded by seismometers. The Mercalli scale may be considered subjective because it

Accepted Answer

A) relies on testimony from people. 
B) does not take distance into account. 
C) can only be used for large earthquakes. 
D) cannot be used in heavily populated areas.

Question 3

Moderate- and deep-focus earthquakes occur along ONLY

Accepted Answer

A) convergent-plate boundaries. 
B) divergent-plate boundaries. 
C) transform-plate boundaries. 
D) hotspots.

Question 4

An increase in size of one unit of magnitude translates to ___________ times the ground motion.

Accepted Answer

A) 1 
B) 2 
C) 32 
D) 10

Question 5

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake generated a tsunami that devastated coastlines on the ___________ Ocean.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 6

Making better ___________ is the best way to try to prevent earthquake damage.

Accepted Answer

A) seismometers 
B) magnitude scales 
C) buildings 
D) seismograms

Question 7

What kind of waves travel with a compressional motion?

Accepted Answer

A) Love waves 
B) Rayleigh waves 
C) P-waves 
D) S-waves

Question 8

Body waves include

Accepted Answer

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

Question 9

Wet and unconsolidated substrates are uniquely susceptible to ___________ during an earthquake.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 10

At a minimum, how many seismic stations are necessary to locate the epicenter of an

Accepted Answer

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

Question 11

Much of the capitol city of Port-au-Prince was destroyed during the 2010 Haiti earthquake even though similarly sized earthquakes in other cities did very little damage. What caused so much damage during the Haiti earthquake?

Accepted Answer

A)  A tsunami wiped out the city. 
B)  Landslides covered large areas. 
C) The buildings were poorly built. 
D) The residents did not evacuate in time.

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

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

Question 13

During an earthquake, if the hanging wall slides upward relative to the footwall and if the fault is steep (closer to vertical than horizontal), then the fault is termed a ___________ fault. Refer to the following figure for an example of such a feature.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 14

Earthquake ___________ is a means of deciding where the ground is stable enough to build on in earthquake-prone areas.

Accepted Answer

A) mitigation 
B) zoning 
C) retrofitting 
D) prevention

Question 15

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 ___________ fault. Refer to the following figure for an example of such a feature.

Accepted Answer

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

Question 16

According to the image below, where was the epicenter of the earthquake?

Accepted Answer

A) New York 
B) Florida 
C) Kansas 
D) Canada

Question 17

Which tectonic setting has the potential to create the largest earthquakes on Earth?

Accepted Answer

A) shallow thrust faults associated with a convergent boundary 
B) deep focus faults associated with a convergent boundary 
C) thrust faults associated with a transform boundary 
D) ridge segment transform boundaries associated with divergent boundaries

Question 18

Surface waves

Accepted Answer

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 19

What is the Moho? How was it discovered?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the Moho? How was it...

Question 20

Generally, which type of earthquake waves travel with the slowest velocity?

Accepted Answer

A) S-waves 
B) P-waves 
C) surface waves 
D) All earthquake waves travel at the same speed.

Exam 8: A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes