MULTIPLE CHOICE
 
1. Earthquakes occur most often in the __________ region of the United States.

a. Northeast
b. Mississippi Valley
c. Pacific Coastal
d. West
e. Southwest
 

2. What instrument is used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake?

a. seismometer
b. seismogram
c. seismograph
d. richtermeter
e. richtergraph
 

3. Earthquake epicenters are pinpointed by at least three stations and then calculating

a. radial distance
b. centrifugal distance
c. axial distance
d. arc
e. perimeter of the circle
 

4. How can the type of earthquake be determined from seismographs?

a. time of first P-wave arrival
b. time of first S-wave arrival
c. from the frequency of the wave
d. location of the epicenter
e. from the amplitude of the wave
 

5. A scale for measuring earthquakes is called

a. seismometer
b. Modified Mercalli
c. Richter magnitude
d. b and c
e. a, b, and c
 

6. After an earthquake, a formerly straight line that crosses a fault line will be distorted into a shape having _________  displacement near the fault through a process called  ___________.

a. Increasing, isostatic rebound
b. Increasing, elastic rebound
c. Decreasing, isostatic rebound
d. Decreasing, elastic rebound
e. Decreasing, static and dynamic forces
 

7. Compressional waves are  __________  and   ______________.

a. are P waves, travel slow
b. are S waves, travel fast
c. are P waves, travel fast
d. are S waves, travel slow
e. are the same as shear waves, travel the fastest
 

8. P-waves shake the ground  ____________ to the direction of propagation, while S-waves travel  _______ to the direction of prorogation.

a. perpendicular, transverse
b. perpendicular, parallel
c. transverse, parallel
d. transverse, perpendicular
e. parallel, perpendicular
 

9. What types of earthquakes create the biggest tsunamis?

a. static
b. dynamic
c. transverse
d. concave
e. subduction
 

10. Tsunamis travel at a speed that is related to water depth.  Which of the following choices are true?

a. as water depth decreases, tsunamis speed up
b. as water depth decreases, tsunamis slow down
c. as water depth increases, tsunamis speed up
d. as water depth increases, tsunamis slow down
e. both depend on the topography of the ocean bottom
 

11. The height of a tsunami may reach up to

a. 100 feet
b. 30 feet
c. 30 meters
d. 20 meters
e. 5 meters
 

12. How fast does seismic energy travel?

a. 3-6 miles/hour
b. as fast as sound
c. 1-2 km/sec
d. 3-6 km/sec
e. 7-9 km/sec
 

13. Earthquakes of magnitude < 2.0 occur by a factor of ___ more frequently than those of 4.0-4.9

a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 5
 

14. Earthquakes can occur in the earth's _________ at maximum depths to approximately  _________.

a. crust, 500 feet
b. upper mantle, 500 miles
c. crust, 800 km
d. b and c
e. a and c
 

15. What percentage of earthquakes occur in intra-plate zones?

a. 15%
b. 80%
c. 95%
d. 1%
e. 5%
 

16. What are some ways earthquakes can be accurately predicted?

a. Richter scale
b. Doppler radar
c. Seismographs
d. Assigning a series of probabilities and range of years and magnitude to a region
e. Earthquakes cannot be accurately predicted
 

17. Earthquakes are related to volcanoes in the following ways:

a. Volcanic eruptions cause earthquakes
b. The same processes are responsible for volcanoes and earthquakes
c. Earthquakes are the result of active forces connected with a volcanic eruption
d. Earthquakes cause volcanoes to erupt
e. Earthquakes and volcanoes always occur together
 

18. Static deformation is:

a. permanent displacement of the ground
b. semi-permanent displacement of the ground
c. a dynamic process
d. dissipates immediately
e. a permanent displacement of an area 50 m surrounding a fault
 

19. Dynamic motions

a. are caused by shear waves
b. account for 10% of the energy from a fault
c. are sound waves radiated from the earthquake epicenter
d. b and c
e. a, b, and c
 

20. Another use of a seismograph is:

a. monitoring volcanoes
b. monitoring tsunamis
c. monitoring hurricanes
d. monitoring nuclear tests
e. none of the above
 

21. The 4 major types of earthquakes detected by seismographs are:

a. tectonic, deep, superficial, harmonic
b. tectonic, shallow, substrate, transverse
c. subduction, shallow, surface, dynamic
d. static, dynamic, transverse, concave
e. tectonic, shallow, surface, harmonic
 

TRUE/FALSE

1. San Diego California is the location of the feasibility study for earthquake alerts
 
 True  or  False
 
 
2. A tsunami is another word for tidal wave
 
 True  or  False
 
 
3. The largest earthquake in the United States occurred in Alaska
 
 True  or  False
 
 
4. Earthquakes are related to weather.  Particularly winds trapped in sub-terranean caves
 
 True  or  False

 
5. Tsunami's can be caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, cosmic bodies

True  or  False