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Ever-Changing Earth3
"6th Grade - Ever-Changing Earth Vocabulary - 03"
Question | Answer |
---|---|
tsunami | a series of huge ocean waves often triggered by an underwater earthquake |
stress | a force that squeezes rocks together, stretches or pulls them apart, or pushes them in different directions |
focus | the point where part of the crust breaks loose and moves suddenly, causing an earthquake |
vibrations | back-and-forth motions that carry energy from one place to another |
epicenter | the point on the surface of Earth directly above the focus of an earthquake; often whre the most damage from an earthquake occurs |
body waves | seismic waves that travel through Earth |
surface waves | seismic waves that travel along the surface of Earth |
P (primary) waves | longitudinal seismic waves that can travel through solids, liquids, or gases and are the fastest type of seismic waves |
S (secondary) waves | transverse seismic waves that can travel only through solids and are slower than P waves |
longitudinal wave | a type of wave that travels through Earth in a push-pull pattern |
transverse wave | a type of wave in which particle displacement is perpendicular to the direction of the wave |
seismograph | instrument used to detect and measure seismic waves |
seismogran | the line recorded on paper by a seismograph, representing ground motion |
magnitude (earthquake) | a measure of the strength of an earthquake or the energy released during an earthquake |
Richter Scale | a numerical scale used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake |
intensity | the amount of damage caused by an earthquake |
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale | a scale used to measure earthquake intensity; it takes into account amount of destruction, ground motion, and impact on humans resulting from an earthquake |
theory | an explanation of why and how a specific natural phenomenon occurs |
triangulation | the process of finding an unknown location using its relationship to known locations, such as the distance of the unknown location from known locations |