Earthquakes

Compare a tsunami to a normal ocean wave in terms of wave speed, period and length.

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Describe and name the advantages and disadvantages of the Mercalli, Richter and Moment Magnitude scales.

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Describe our ability to make long and short term earthquake predictions.

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Explain how P and S arrival times can be used to calculate the epicenter of an earthquake using the P‐S interval from three seismic stations.

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Explain how a tsunami forms.

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Recognize the arrival of P, S surface and aftershocks on a seismogram and explain why their arrival is staggered.

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Define the epicenter and hypocenter of an earthquake.

The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates. Hypocenter is the focus: The focus of an earthquake is the place in the earth where the earthquake busted or fault movement really took place. It is more correctly termed as the hypocenter.

Explain how a seismograph works to record an earthquake.

Seismographs are designed so that slight earth vibrations move the instruments; the suspended mass (M), however, tends to remain at rest, and its recording stylus records this difference in motion. The horizontal seismograph shown here moves only in the horizontal plane. Vertical seismographs, like the simple one shown here, use a "soft" link between the earth-anchored instrument and the suspended mass. In this design, the mass hangs from a spring, which absorbs some of the motion and causes the mass to lag behind actual motion.