earthquakes

• earthquakes

  • occur due to tectonic plates, volcanoes, human activity
• magnitude

  • total energy released by an earthquake
  • measured using the richter scare or moment magnitude scale
• intensity

  • total amount of damage caused by an earthquake
  • measured using mercalli scale
  • generally higher than the epicenter
  • felt by people
• focus/hypocenter

  • point within the earth where the earthquake originates
• epicenter

  • point on the earth's surface above the focus
  • experiences strongest shaking/severe effects of an earthquake
• fault

  • break in the earth's crust
• types of fault

  • normal fault
  • reverse fault
  • strike-slip fault
• reverse fault

  • hanging wall moves up
• strike-slip fault/transcurrent

  • when they move sideways
• normal fault

  • hanging wall drops down