Deck 4: Earthquakes and Human Activities

Question 1

Which type of fault would you expect if the rocks are subjected to extensional stress?

A) Reverse Fault
B) Normal Fault
C) Thrust Fault
D) Strike-slip Fault
E) Stress Fault

Answer 1

Normal Fault

Question 2

What is the map location of an earthquake called?

A) focus
B) ground zero
C) epicenter
D) scarp
E) nexus

Answer 2

epicenter

Question 3

Which of the following Significant World earthquakes caused no casualties and little impact?

A) Alaska, U.S.A. 2002
B) Tangshan, China 1976
C) Loma Prieta, California, U.S.A. 1989
D) Kobe, Japan 1995
E) Christchurch, New Zealand 2011

Answer 3

Alaska, U.S.A. 2002

Question 4

What is the point of subsurface origin of an earthquake called?

A) focus
B) ground zero
C) epicenter
D) scarp
E) nexus

Question 5

Which type of earthquake wave moves the fastest?

A) P-waves
B) S-waves
C) Love waves
D) Rayleigh waves
E) permanent waves

Question 6

Which type of earthquake wave could travel through a vacuum?

A) P-waves
B) S-waves
C) Love waves
D) Rayleigh waves
E) No seismic waves can travel through a vacuum

Question 7

Which type of earthquake wave most closely resembles sound waves?

A) P-waves
B) S-waves
C) Love waves
D) Rayleigh waves
E) permanent waves

Question 8

Which type of earthquake body wave cannot pass through liquids?

A) P-waves
B) S-waves
C) Love waves
D) Rayleigh waves
E) surface wave

Question 9

How much more energy does a magnitude 8 earthquake release than a magnitude 7 earthquake?

A) 2 times more
B) 10 times more
C) 30 times more
D) 900 times more
E) 27,000 times more

Question 10

How is the distance to the epicenter of an earthquake determined using a seismograph?

A) How hard the seismograph needle swings back and forth is noted.
B) Travel time is clocked and then compared to the reported time of the earthquake at the epicenter.
C) The arrival times of surface waves are noted.
D) The delay time between the P-wave and the slower S-wave is considered.
E) You cannot do this with a single seismograph.

Question 11

What is one way that earthquake intensities are determined?

A) with seismographs
B) with satellites
C) with postal questionnaires
D) with accelerometers
E) with seismometers

Question 12

How much more energy does a magnitude 8 earthquake release than a magnitude 6 earthquake?

A) 2 times more
B) 10 times more
C) 30 times more
D) 900 times more
E) 27,000 times more

Question 13

What did the San Francisco (1906) and Kobe (1995) earthquakes have in common?

A) There were large uncontrolled fires.
B) They were the same size.
C) There were huge tsunamis.
D) Landslides were a major cause of death.
E) They both occurred near subduction zones.

Question 14

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: Seismologists have abandoned Richter magnitudes in favor of moment magnitudes for describing earthquakes BECAUSE Richter magnitudes do not accurately portray the energy released by large earthquakes on faults with great rupture lengths.

A) The assertion and reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and reason are both correct, and the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct and the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect and the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 15

Where is the safest place, among those listed below, in the 48 contiguous states with respect to earthquake seismic risk?

A) South Dakota
B) Missouri
C) South Carolina
D) Maine
E) Utah

Question 16

The 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti and killed over 200,000 people occurred along what type of fault?

A) normal fault
B) reverse fault
C) strike-slip fault (left-lateral)
D) strike-slip fault (right-lateral)
E) thrust fault

Question 17

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: The modified Mercalli scale is better than the Richter magnitude scale in comparing earthquakes from widely separated geographical areas BECAUSE seismic intensity is a function of the energy released, construction practices, and local geology.

A) The assertion and the reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and the reason are both correct, but the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct, but the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect, but the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT considered good seismic design?

A) installing steel reinforcing rods in concrete structures
B) bolting frame houses to the foundation
C) nailing plywood sheeting over a wood frame
D) attaching wall framing to the sill with metal L braces
E) mixing cement with as much sand as possible

Question 19

Which of the following "Five Earthquakes That Make a Point"did NOT occur near a plate boundary?

A) 1994 California, U.S.A.
B) 2001 Gujarat, India
C) 2011 Tohoku-Oki, Japan.
D) 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand
E) 2004 Sumatra, Indonesia

Question 20

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: The near-term prospect of developing a method of earthquake prediction is dismal BECAUSE the mechanics of earthquake generation are too complicated to predict based on our current state of knowledge.

A) The assertion and the reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and the reason are both correct, but the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct, but the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect, but the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 21

The casualties from the 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake is a representative example of the human loss being dispersed throughout the city.

Question 22

All earthquakes break the ground surface.

Question 23

In Los Angeles, California the greatest earthquake threat is not from the San Andreas Fault.

Question 24

The increase in the number of earthquakes greater than magnitude 8.5 after a 30-year quiet-period prior to 2000 is not a statistical quirk.

Question 25

Shear forces characterize the San Andreas Fault.

Question 26

The fault displacement from the 2011 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake was the largest ever recorded.

Question 27

The Great Sumatran of 2004 triggered aftershocks as far away as Alaska.

Question 28

The casualties from the 2011 Gujarat, India earthquake is a representative example of the human loss being concentrated in relatively few key structures.

Question 29

Surface waves are generated by unexpended body wave energy bouncing off Earth's surface.

Question 30

Very large earthquakes can set the whole earth ringing like a bell and wobbling on its rotational axis for months.

Question 31

A single seismograph can determine the location of an earthquake.

Question 32

No earthquake has been observed with a Richter magnitude of greater than 8.9.

Question 33

All other things being equal a building built on solid granite bedrock is seismically safer than one built on water-saturated sediment.

Question 34

About 95% of the destruction caused by the Great Sumatran earthquake of 2004 was due to the tsunami.

Question 35

Each year, on average, the Earth experiences over 15 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than seven.

Question 36

Tall multi-story buildings respond identically to earthquakes as single-story houses.

Question 37

A single earthquake can trigger over 10,000 landslides.

Question 38

There is no way to determine if a local area is susceptible to seismic induced liquefaction.

Question 39

Tsunami is a Japanese word that translates to "tidal wave."

Question 40

Population density is an important factor in earthquake-caused human fatalities.

Question 41

Name and describe the mechanism that Harold F. Reid proposed to explain the shaking that occurred during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906?

Question 42

Explain why, in Figure 4.2 in the text, the sequence of events shown would occur only if the fence was built the day after the last earthquake.

Question 43

Explain why there are no earthquakes deeper than about 700 kilometers.

Question 44

What happens when the earthquake wave period equals the natural period of vibration of a building or other structure?

Question 45

It has been said that "earthquakes do not kill people; buildings do."What are some examples of 21^st century earthquakes that illustrate this?

Question 46

Why are faults like the one that caused the Northridge earthquake of 1994 not addressed in the Earthquake Fault Zones Act of 1995 (formerly the Alquist-Priolo Special Study Zones Act)?

Question 47

What are intraplate earthquakes, and what is an example of one?

Question 48

What is the current status of earthquake prediction according to the U.S. Geological Survey?

Question 49

What does paleoseismicity refer to, and how does it contribute to earthquake forecasting?

Question 50

The current California requirement is that high-rise structures must be built to withstand about 0.4 g ground acceleration, and single family dwellings must be built to withstand about 0.15 g ground acceleration. Would that standard have protected structures in Northridge in 1994? Why or why not?