Earthquake Guided Notes

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What is stress? What is strain? How to they compare
and contrast? (make a Venn diagram): Stress- the
forces per unit area acting on a material. Strain- the
deformation of materials in response to stress.
Compare: both stress and strain have to deal with
the interaction of material. Contrast: Stress is
measured in forces per unit, while strain is not
measured, only describes the deformation of
materials.
What are the 3 different types of faults? Describe
each.
Normal Fault- form when the hanging wall drops
down. The forces that create normal faults are pulling
the sides apart, or extensional.
Reverse Fault- form when the hanging wall moves up.
The forces creating reverse faults are compressional,
pushing the sides together.
Transcurrent/Strike-Slip Faults- have walls that move
sideways, not up or down.
Type of
waves
Primary

Materials &
Description
-are alternatingly
compressional and
extensional, and
cause the rocks
they pass through

Sketch

Movement

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to change in
volume.

Second
ary

Surface

-cause the rocks

they pass through
to change in
shape.
These waves are
the second fastest
traveling
seismic waves(afte
r primary waves)
and can travel
through solids but
not through liquids
or gases.

-is a
mechanical wave
that propagates
along the
interface
between differing
media, usually as
a
gravity wave bet
ween two fluids
with different
densities.

How do the focus and the epicenter of earthquakes

compare and contrast? both focus and the
epicenter deal with the exact location of an
earthquakes starting point. But the focus is the point

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within the Earth where seismic waves originate; it is
centered on the part of the fault that has the
greatest movement. The epicenter is on the earths
surface directly above the focus.
The greater the distance between P and S waves
on a seismograph the (longer or shorter) distance
away from the epicenter. -Longer
What is the name of the scale used to measure the
energy released during an earthquake? What is the
range of the scale? The Richter magnitude scale is
the most common standard of measurement for
earthquakes. The Richter scale goes from 0 to 9.
What is the name of the scale used to measure the
intensity (damage done) during and earthquake?
What is the range of the scale? The Mercalli
Intensity Scale. The range on the Mercalli Intensity
Scale is I to XII.

Describe the damage caused by earthquakes for a

level 1, 5, and 10. Level 1: usually not felt, but can
be recorded on seismograph. Level 5: Often felt, but
only causes minor damage. Level 10: Great
earthquake, can totally destroy communities near
the epicenter.