1. Which of these is NOT a scale for measuring earthquakes? Anatolia Rift Scale; Richter Scale; Mercalli Intensity Scale; Rossi-Forel scale.
2. What is the name for a minor quake that occurs before the main earthquake? Foreshock; pre-shock; aftershock; tremor.
3. For what do the letters “USGS” stand? United States Geological Service; United States Geographics; United States Geographical Service; United States Geological Survey.
4. Approximately how deep is the San Andreas fault in California? 15 kilometers; 80 kilometers; 120 kilometers; 400 kilometers.
5. The word “Tsunami” comes from the Japanese words that mean what? Harbor Wave; huge wave; divine wind; wave of terror.
6. In what year did the Great San Francisco earthquake occur? 1878; 1906; 1915; 1924.
7. When an earthquakes occurs, it releases energy in the form of waves that radiate from the source in all directions. Which wave is the fastest? S waves; P waves; Surface waves.
8. How many seismic stations make up the Swiss seismographic network? 3; 30; 112.
9. Where in Switzerland in the 20th century did the largest earthquake occur? Basel; Siders; Solothurn.
10. The outer shell of Earth, consisting of moving plates of crust, is called what? Asthenosphere; lithosphere; geosphere.
ANSWERS
1. Anatolia Rift Scale. 2. Foreshock. 3. United States Geological Survey. Formed in 1879, the USGS is now one of the world’s most important organizations for earthquake research. 4. 15 kilometers. The San Andreas fault was the reason for the famous San Francisco earthquake. 5. Harbor Wave. We now use “tsunami” to mean a destructive wave usually caused by an earthquake under the ocean. 6. 1906. 7. The P waves are the fastest, and therefore the first to arrive at a given location. They travel through the interior of the earth. The S waves arrive next. They also travel through the interior of the earth. Surface Waves are similar to waves on a lake and arrive last. They travel along the surface of the Earth. 8. 30. 9. The 1946 magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Siders was the largest earthquake in Switzerland in the 20th Century. 10. Lithosphere.