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How Much Do You Know About Earthquakes Quiz

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Although some areas are more prone to earthquakes than others, an earthquake can occur anywhere in the world and at any time. Most earthquakes are so small that they aren’t even felt. A few are extremely destructive, though, and can be felt over a vast area. These are usually the quakes that people have heard about and many people may have even experienced one or more quakes. 

How much do you know about earthquakes, though? Even if you live in an earthquake-prone area, the chances are good that there is a lot more that you could and probably should know about them.

  • Question of

    A majority of earthquakes are caused by plate-tectonics, when one tectonic plate moves past or against another. True or False: Because of plate-tectonics, Los Angeles is moving about 2 inches closer to San Francisco each year.

    • True
    • False
  • Question of

    The precise point in the earth where an earthquake starts is called the _____

    • epicenter
    • hypocenter
    • center of convergence
  • Question of

    When an earthquake volently shakes even solid ground that contains water, it can cause the ground to act like a fluid, causing buildings and roadways to collapse or even sink. The term for the ground acting like water is ____

    • saturation
    • lateral movement
    • liquifaction
  • Question of

    True or False: Harmonic Tremors are continuous earthquakes that are often associated with volcanic eruptions.

    • True
    • False
  • Question of

    True or False: Deep earthquakes that originate 50-250 miles deep usually cause more damage than shallow earthquakes that have a depth of less than 10 miles.

    • True
    • False
  • Question of

    If you place a cork or float on a lake or sea that has waves, viewed from the side, the cork moves in an eliptical motion as the waves go up and down. In an earthquake, this kind of motion is called a ____

    • S-wave
    • P-wave
    • Rayleigh wave
  • Question of

    True or False: Strong earthquakes also shake the other side of the earth.

    • True
    • False
  • Question of

    An earthquake can cause the water in swimming pools, lakes, and ponds to slosh back and forth. A good example of this happened several years ago at Yellowstone Lake and when the quakes ended, the lake was left tilted so the former shore on one end of the lake is well out of the water while the shore at the other end was submerged. What is the term for this sloshing water movement?

    • seiche
    • tumbler
    • angular displacement
  • Question of

    True or False: Although earthquakes can happen anywhere on earth, about 80% of all earthquakes occur near Japan.

    • True
    • False
  • Question of

    True or False: Alaska records more earthquakes every year than California does.

    • True
    • False

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Written by Rex Trulove

20 Comments

    • You’re very welcome. As with many potential natural disasters, earthquakes are something that a lot of people would prefer not to think about. Making no effort to learn about them can be a deadly mistake.

      1

    • I really can’t explain why, but earthquakes have always fascinated me, despite the damage than they cause. I am thankful that I’ve only been through a couple of them, though. lol

      1

  8. You got 7 out of 10 right!
    Great, and great quiz, you got me with some of the terms. I was once sitting in the backyard poolside when I was around 8 yrs old. The water in the pool sloshed about 10 foot high and slapped back down. It was a strong jolt. Not rolling.

    1

    • The sloshing can be in any of the movements earthquakes make. It can be almost straight up as with a jolt, it can be from side to side, it can be forward and back, and it can be first one motion, then another. No two times it happens are quite identical.

      1