Deck 5: Earthquakes and Related Hazards

Question 1

Which of the following best describes the Mercalli earthquake scale?

A) Is a qualitative measure of earthquake intensity.
B) Is a quantitative measure of earthquake intensity.
C) Measures the amplitude of the strongest surface wave.
D) Measures the amplitude of the strongest P-wave.
E) Measures the amplitude of the strongest S-wave.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following best describes the phenomenon known as liquefaction?

A) Ground shaking causes saturated sandy materials to behave as a liquid.
B) Ground shaking causes asphalt highways to behave as a liquid.
C) Ground shaking causes rivers to temporarily flow in the opposite direction.
D) Ground shaking causes deep snowfields to instantly turn into liquid water.
E) All of the answers listed here.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements best describes P-waves?

A) Move in a compressional manner and are the fastest type of seismic wave.
B) Move in a compressional manner and are the slowest type of seismic waves.
C) Move in a shearing manner and are the slowest type of seismic wave.
D) Move in a shearing manner and are the fastest type of seismic wave.
E) Move in a penetrating manner along the surface of the Earth.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following statements is true regarding earthquakes?

A) All of the answers listed here.
B) They represent the sudden release of energy that has accumulated within rocks.
C) They form when brittle rocks exceed their elastic limit.
D) They represent the vibrations that occur as seismic waves travel through rocks.
E) They result in rocks being offset or displaced along faults.

Question 5

Which of the following is a secondary hazard associated with earthquakes?

A) all of the answers listed here
B) liquefaction
C) landslides and open fissures
D) tsunamis
E) fires

Question 6

Which of the following best describes the Richter and Moment earthquake scales?

A) Measures the amount of ground motion and energy released.
B) Measures the amount of damage at the epicenter.
C) Measures the duration of an earthquake.
D) Measures the amount of elasticity in seismic waves.
E) All of the answers listed here.

Question 7

All natural earthquakes occur along plate boundaries.

Question 8

Which of the following best describes a seismic gap?

A) A section of an active fault that has not experienced an earthquake for an extended period of time
B) A large crack in the ground that opens in response to earthquake activity.
C) The time interval between when an earthquake originates and when it's felt at distant locations.
D) The time interval between when an earthquake originates and when its aftershocks begin.
E) A portion of a seismograph record where data is missing due to seismic waves being blocked by a mountain range.

Question 9

The New Madrid earthquake of 1811 and the Charleston earthquake of 1883 are notable for which of the following reasons?

A) Were relatively large and occurred in the interior of a tectonic plate.
B) Resulted in a very large number of human deaths.
C) Were the only earthquakes to occur in the U.S. during those years.
D) Occurred prior to the development of modern seismographs.
E) Were the first earthquakes in the U.S. since Europeans came to the continent.

Question 10

Surface waves do far greater damage to human structures than do body waves.

Question 11

Which of the following factors do NOT affect the amount of ground shaking during an earthquake?

A) Velocity of different seismic waves.
B) Amount of strain energy released during an earthquake.
C) Focal depth of the earthquake.
D) Type of material seismic waves travel through.
E) Distance to the epicenter.

Question 12

Which of the following is true regarding the epicenter of an earthquake?

A) It's the point on the surface closest to where the strain energy was released.
B) It represents the point where strain energy was initially released.
C) It's the point where seismic waves have the least amount of energy.
D) It's the weakest point in a rock body, hence undergoes the greatest amount of damage.
E) It's the point where seismic waves have the slowest velocity.

Question 13

Which of the following terms describes the point where energy is released during an earthquake?

A) focus
B) epicenter
C) fault
D) breaking point
E) endpoint

Question 14

The San Andreas fault is associated with which of the following tectonic settings?

A) transform boundary
B) convergent boundary
C) divergent boundary
D) subduction zone
E) volcanic arc

Question 15

Earthquakes tend to occur in repetitive cycles as rocks accumulate strain energy and then rupture or break.

Question 16

Which of the following factors affect the amount of damage caused by an earthquake?

A) All of the answers listed here.
B) Building construction design.
C) Natural vibration frequency and resonance.
D) Amount of ground shaking.
E) Number of secondary hazards.

Question 17

What best describes the technique known as seismic engineering that is used to reduce the number of deaths caused by earthquakes?

A) Making buildings more resistant to lateral ground forces during an earthquake.
B) Rerouting traffic along major highways prior to an earthquake.
C) Enabling nuclear power plants to continue operating during an earthquake.
D) Building large breakwaters across inlets to prevent tsunamis from reaching the shoreline.
E) Developing ways of preventing earthquakes.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT true of tsunamis?

A) Tsunamis are associated with transform fault boundaries.
B) Tsunamis are generated when energy is suddenly transferred to a body of water.
C) The majority of tsunamis form during subduction zone earthquakes.
D) Tsunamis form when the seafloor suddenly moves and displaces seawater.
E) Tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean along the Ring of Fire.

Question 19

Which of the following statements regarding subduction zones is true?

A) All of the answers listed here.
B) Subduction zone earthquakes are associated with compressional stress.
C) Subduction zones are capable of generating extremely powerful earthquakes.
D) The Cascadia fault is part of a subduction zone located in the northwestern United States.
E) Subduction zone earthquakes are associated with convergent plate boundaries.

Question 20

Which of the following best describes the phenomenon known as wave amplification?

A) Change in ground materials that causes seismic waves to slow down and have more energy.
B) Situation on a seismograph where the P-waves overtake the S-waves.
C) Situation on a seismograph where the S-waves overtake the P-waves.
D) Dangerous situation that occurs when seismic waves encounter electrical transmission lines.
E) Dangerous situation that occurs when seismic waves encounter ocean waves.