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- DictionaryEarth·quake/ˈərTHˌkwāk/
noun
- 1. a sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action.
An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel.
4 days ago · An earthquake is an intense shaking of Earth’s surface. The shaking is caused by movements in Earth’s outermost layer. Why Do Earthquakes Happen? Although the Earth looks like a pretty solid place from the surface, it’s actually extremely active just below the surface.
Oct 19, 2023 · Hundreds of earthquakes occur on Earth everyday. Most of them are small, barely detectable by most people. But occasionally there is a much more significant quake. On average, a major earthquake —one with a magnitude of 7.0-7.9—strikes somewhere on the planet more than once a month.
An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. The surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane . The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter , and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicenter .
noun. earthquake. / ûrth ′ kwāk′ / A sudden movement of the Earth's lithosphere (its crust and upper mantle). Earthquakes are caused by the release of built-up stress within rocks along geologic faults or by the movement of magma in volcanic areas. They are usually followed by aftershocks. See Note at fault. earthquake.
Forces of Nature. What is an earthquake? An earthquake is a sudden shaking of Earth's surface caused by the movement of rocks deep underneath. Most quakes are unnoticeable by people on Earth's surface. Thousands of quakes occur every day but are too weak to be felt. Video courtesy of Security Camera / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.
a sudden violent movement of the earth's surface, sometimes causing great damage: In 1906 an earthquake destroyed much of San Francisco. See also. quake noun informal. Compare. tremor. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Geology: earthquakes & volcanic eruptions. aftershock. crater. fault line. geyser. lahar. magma. non-volcanic. phreatic.
