The Earthquake Pretest

Instructions: For each question, choose the single best answer. Make your choice by clicking on its button. You can change your answers at any time. When the quiz is graded, the correct answers will appear in the box after each question.

1. Who developed the procedure used to measure the size of an earthquake?

a. John Ritter

b. Charles Richter

c. Elvis

2. The largest earthquake ever recorded happened _______________?

a. China, January 23, 1556, magnitude unknown

b. California

c. on Krypton

3. If you find yourself indoors during an earthquake, is it usually better to open the windows, rush outside or to take cover inside?

a. open the windows

b. rush outside

c. stay inside

4. The first seismic instruments accurate enough to be used in the scientific study of earthquakes were invented in the 1880s in which country?

a. United States

b. Japan

c. Tinsel Town

5. Most of the deaths from the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 were attributed to___________.

a. Collapsed buildings crushed thousands of people

b. fires that spread rapidly

c. A Tsunami

6. The most important factor determining the destructiveness of an earthquake is_______.

a. The location of the earthquake

b. The time the earthquake hit

c. The depth of the quake

7. The largest earthquake ever recorded occurred where?

a. Missouri

b. Chile

c. California

8. Global earthquake activity in recent years has been____________

a. about the same

b. increasing

c. decreasing

9. What is the instrumental record of an earthquake?

a. seismic section

b. seismograph

c. A seismogram

10. The epicentre is___________

a. a name given to the middle of a circle.

b. a point on the earth's surface at which an earthquake is centered

c.  a building where seismologists are based.

11. Which type of tectonic environment does NOT produce earthquakes?

a. Relational

b. Recreational

c. Fault

12. The movement of tectonic plates is usually measured in ____.

a. inches

b. the morning

c. millimeters

13. During an earthquake, liquefaction is a process _________.

a. money becomes water

b. where water saturated weakened ground material moves like a liquid

c. underground rivers are formed

14. The size of an earthquake is indicated by a number called its _________.

a. Magnitude

b. Size

c. Fault

15. This fault crosses five state lines, and crosses the Mississippi River in at least three places.

a. The Equator

b. The San Andreas Fault

c. The New Madrid Fault System

16. An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a __________________.

a. fall

b. fault

c. earth

17. ­­­­­­­______________ are vibrations caused by the movement of rock within the earth's crust.

a. radio

b. earthquakes

c. Seismic waves

18. The _________ of an earthquake (how it was felt) is described by the Modified Mercalli Scale.

a. intensity

b. value

c. record

19. These are huge ocean waves caused by underwater earthquakes.

a. water spout

b. hurricane

c. Tsunami

20. A quake of lesser magnitude, usually one of a series, following a large earthquake in the same area is an _________.

a. aftershock

b. absolute surprise

c. a mini-quake

---

The number correct:       Percent Correct:      
Suggested Action: