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17 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
earthquakes
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vibrations of the earth's crust
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elastic rebound theory
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theory that rocks that are strained past a certain point will fracture and spring back to their original shape
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aftershocks
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a series of small tremors that usually follow an earthquake
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focus
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the area along a fault where the slippage first occurs
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epicenter
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the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus
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Pacific Ring of Fire
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major earthquake zone that forms a ring around the Pacific Ocean
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fault zones
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groups of interconnected faults at some plate boundaries
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seismograph
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an instrument that detects and records seismic waves
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P waves (primary waves)
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move the fastest ad are the first to be recorded by a seismograph, can travel through solids and liquids
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S waves (secondary waves)
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the second waves to be recorded on a seismograph, can only travel through solids
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surface waves
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slowest moving waves, the last to be recorded on a seismograph
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magnitude
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a measure of the energy released by an earthquake and is also described as the amount of ground motion
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microquakes
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earthquakes with magnitudes of less than 2.5
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Mercalli scale
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scale that expresses the intensity of an earthquake with a Roman numeral and a description
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intensity
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amount of damage it causes
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tsunami
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a major earthquake with an epicenter on the ocean floor that sometimes causes a giant ocean wave
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seismic gaps
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a place where the fault is locked and unable to move
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