Anatomy of Earthquake

• Focus or Hypocenter - point in a rock’s zone of weakness, where the breaking starts and seismic energy is released.
• Epicenter - point on Earth’s surface that is directly above the focus
• Fault Plane - focus of an Earthquake, breaking surface underground
• Fault Line - any edge of the fault plane that shows how much movement has taken place
• Fault Scarp if fault plane is exposed above the ground
• Seismology is the study of earthquakes and seismic waves that move through and around the Earth.
• Seismic waves are caused by the sudden movement of materials within the Earth, such as slip along a fault during an earthquake. Volcanic eruptions, explosions, landslides, avalanches, and even rushing rivers can also cause seismic waves.
• Intensity - tells how much a certain area was shaken of an earthquake
• Magnitude - the total amount of energy that was released by earthquake at focus.
• Richter Magnitude Scale an open-ended scale and describes the total amount of energy that is

  released by an earthquake
• PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) – uses 10 levels to rate the strength of an earthquake based on its effects