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Chapter 19 Vocab ES
Vocab Words
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Stress | Forces per unit area that act on a material- compression, tension, and shear |
Strain | Deformation of materials in response to stress |
Elastic Deformation | Causes materials to bend and stretch; proportional to stress, so if the stress is reduced or returns to zero the strain or deformation is reduced or disappears |
Plastic Deformation | Permanent deformation caused by strain when stress exceeds a certain value. |
Fault | Fracure or system of fractures in Earth's crust that occcurs when stress is applied too quickly or stress is too great; can form as a result of horiontal compression, horizontal shear, or horizontal tension. |
Seismic Wave | The vibrations of the ground during an earthquake |
Primary Wave | Seismic ae that squeezes and pushes rocks in the same direction that the wave travels, known as the P-wave |
Secondary Wave | Seismic wave that causes rock particles to move at right angles to the direction of the wave, known as the S-wave |
Focus | Point of the initial fault rupture where an earthquake originates that usually lies at least several kilometers beneath Earth's surface. |
Epicenter | Point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake |
Seismometer | Instrument used to measure horizontal or vertical motion during an earthquake. |
Seismogram | Record produced by a seismometer that can proved individual tracking of each type of seismic wave |
Richter Scale | Numerical rating system used to measure the amount of energy released during an earthquake. |
Magnitude | Measure of the energy released during an earthquake, which can be described using the Richter Scale. |
Amplitude | The size of the seismic waves; an increase of 1 in the scale represents an increase in amplitude of a factor of 10 |
Moment Magnitude Scale | Scale used to measure earthquake magnitude- taking into account the size of the fault rupture, the rocks' stiffness, and the amount of movement along the fault- using values that can be estimated from the size of several types of seismic waves. |
Modified Mercalli Scale | Measures earthquake intensity on a scale from I to XII; the higher the number, the greater the damage the earthquake has caused. |
Soil Liquefaction | Process associated with seismic vibrations that occur in areas of sand that is nearly saturated; resulting in the ground behaving like a liquid. |
Tsunami | Large, powerful ocean wave generated by the vertical motions of the seafloor during an earthquake; in shallow water, can form huge, fst-moving breakers exceeding 30m in height that can damage coastal areas. |
Seismic Gap | Place along an active fault that has not experienced an earthquake for a long time. |