Test Bank Earthquakes And Related Hazards Exam Questions Ch5

Chapter 05 Test Bank: Earthquakes and Related Hazards

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following statements is true regarding earthquakes?

A. They form when brittle rocks exceed their elastic limit.

B. All of the answers listed here.

C. They represent the vibrations that occur as seismic waves travel through rocks.

D. They represent the sudden release of energy that has accumulated within rocks.

E. They result in rocks being offset or displaced along faults.

2. Which of the following terms describes the point where energy is released during an earthquake?

A. breaking point

B. fault

C. endpoint

D. epicenter

E. focus

3. Which of the following statements best describes P-waves?

A. Move in a shearing manner and are the fastest type of seismic wave.

B. Move in a penetrating manner along the surface of the Earth.

C. Move in a compressional manner and are the slowest type of seismic waves.

D. Move in a shearing manner and are the slowest type of seismic wave.

E. Move in a compressional manner and are the fastest type of seismic wave.

4. Which of the following best describes the Mercalli earthquake scale?

A. Is a quantitative measure of earthquake intensity.

B. Is a qualitative measure of earthquake intensity.

C. Measures the amplitude of the strongest S-wave.

D. Measures the amplitude of the strongest surface wave.

E. Measures the amplitude of the strongest P-wave.

5. Which of the following best describes the Richter and Moment earthquake scales?

A. Measures the amount of ground motion and energy released.

B. All of the answers listed here.

C. Measures the amount of elasticity in seismic waves.

D. Measures the duration of an earthquake.

E. Measures the amount of damage at the epicenter.

6. The San Andreas fault is associated with which of the following tectonic settings?

A. divergent boundary

B. convergent boundary

C. subduction zone

D. transform boundary

E. volcanic arc

7. Which of the following statements regarding subduction zones is true?

A. The Cascadia fault is part of a subduction zone located in the northwestern United States.

B. Subduction zone earthquakes are associated with convergent plate boundaries.

C. All of the answers listed here.

D. Subduction zone earthquakes are associated with compressional stress.

E. Subduction zones are capable of generating extremely powerful earthquakes.

8. The New Madrid earthquake of 1811 and the Charleston earthquake of 1883 are notable for which of the following reasons?

A. Were relatively large and occurred in the interior of a tectonic plate.

B. Were the only earthquakes to occur in the U.S. during those years.

C. Occurred prior to the development of modern seismographs.

D. Were the first earthquakes in the U.S. since Europeans came to the continent.

E. Resulted in a very large number of human deaths.

9. Which of the following factors do NOT affect the amount of ground shaking during an earthquake?

A. Type of material seismic waves travel through.

B. Distance to the epicenter.

C. Focal depth of the earthquake.

D. Velocity of different seismic waves.

E. Amount of strain energy released during an earthquake.

10. Which of the following is a secondary hazard associated with earthquakes?

A. all of the answers listed here

B. landslides and open fissures

C. fires

D. tsunamis

E. liquefaction

11. Which of the following is NOT true of tsunamis?

A. The majority of tsunamis form during subduction zone earthquakes.

B. Tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean along the Ring of Fire.

C. Tsunamis form when the seafloor suddenly moves and displaces seawater.

D. Tsunamis are generated when energy is suddenly transferred to a body of water.

E. Tsunamis are associated with transform fault boundaries.

12. Which of the following best describes a seismic gap?

A. A portion of a seismograph record where data is missing due to seismic waves being blocked by a mountain range.

B. A large crack in the ground that opens in response to earthquake activity.

C. A section of an active fault that has not experienced an earthquake for an extended period of time

D. The time interval between when an earthquake originates and when its aftershocks begin.

E. The time interval between when an earthquake originates and when it’s felt at distant locations.

13. Which of the following is true regarding the epicenter of an earthquake?

A. It represents the point where strain energy was initially released.

B. It’s the point on the surface closest to where the strain energy was released.

C. It’s the point where seismic waves have the least amount of energy.

D. It’s the point where seismic waves have the slowest velocity.

E. It’s the weakest point in a rock body, hence undergoes the greatest amount of damage.

14. Which of the following factors affect the amount of damage caused by an earthquake?

A. Amount of ground shaking.

B. Natural vibration frequency and resonance.

C. All of the answers listed here.

D. Building construction design.

E. Number of secondary hazards.

15. Which of the following best describes the phenomenon known as wave amplification?

A. Situation on a seismograph where the P-waves overtake the S-waves.

B. Situation on a seismograph where the S-waves overtake the P-waves.

C. Dangerous situation that occurs when seismic waves encounter ocean waves.

D. Dangerous situation that occurs when seismic waves encounter electrical transmission lines.

E. Change in ground materials that causes seismic waves to slow down and have more energy.

16. Which of the following best describes the phenomenon known as liquefaction?

A. Ground shaking causes saturated sandy materials to behave as a liquid.

B. All of the answers listed here.

C. Ground shaking causes deep snowfields to instantly turn into liquid water.

D. Ground shaking causes asphalt highways to behave as a liquid.

E. Ground shaking causes rivers to temporarily flow in the opposite direction.

17. What best describes the technique known as seismic engineering that is used to reduce the number of deaths caused by earthquakes?

A. Building large breakwaters across inlets to prevent tsunamis from reaching the shoreline.

B. Enabling nuclear power plants to continue operating during an earthquake.

C. Developing ways of preventing earthquakes.

D. Rerouting traffic along major highways prior to an earthquake.

E. Making buildings more resistant to lateral ground forces during an earthquake.

True / False Questions

18. Surface waves do far greater damage to human structures than do body waves.

True / False

19. Earthquakes tend to occur in repetitive cycles as rocks accumulate strain energy and then rupture or break.

True / False

20. All natural earthquakes occur along plate boundaries.

True / False

Multiple Choice Questions

21. What kind of strained earth materials undergo permanent deformation by flowing plastically?

A. Water-saturated

B. Brittle

C. Ductile

D. Laminated

22. According to the elastic rebound theory, an earthquake occurs when a rock

A. reaches its elastic limit.

B. contracts due to excessive heat.

C. expands due to excessive heat.

D. recrystallizes due to high pressure.

23. The size of an earthquake is generally related to

A. the amount of ductile deformation.

B. the type of the fault involved.

C. the number of faults involved.

D. the amount of accumulated strain.

24. All of the following are causes of earthquake activity except

A. sunspot activity.

B. human activity.

C. tectonic activity.

D. volcanic activity.

25. What is an earthquake epicenter?

A. The farthest location where the earthquake is felt

B. The location on the ground surface directly above the focus

C. The location directly below the focus

D. The location in the subsurface where the earthquake originates

26. Which type of seismic wave usually causes the most damage to artificial structures?

A. P-waves

B. S-waves

C. Surface waves

D. Refracted waves

27. What type of machine is used to measure the location of an earthquake epicenter?

A. Tectograph

B. Rapidograph

C. Spectrograph

D. Seismograph

28. What is the Mercalli intensity scale based on?

A. Measurements with a seismograph

B. Human observations

C. Volcanic activity

D. The magnitude of microearthquakes

29. What is a Richter magnitude based on?

A. Measurements with a seismograph

B. Human observations

C. Volcanic activity

D. None of these choices are correct

30. What is a moment magnitude based on?

A. Amount of ground shaking

B. Amount of energy released

C. Human observations

D. Changes in the chemical composition of rocks

31. Where do the strongest earthquakes usually occur?

A. Along divergent boundaries

B. Along convergent boundaries

C. Along transform boundaries

D. In plate interiors

32. What is one possible way that the buildup of strain may be avoided?

A. Subduction

B. Seafloor spreading

C. Excessive volcanism

D. Fault creep

33. The largest earthquake ever recorded in California was located

A. on the San Andreas fault in southern California.

B. on the San Andreas fault in northern California.

C. on a subduction zone in southern California.

D. on a subduction zone in northern California.

34. Where is the Cascadia subduction zone located?

A. In the Pacific northwest of the U.S.

B. In southern California

C. Along the west coast of Mexico

D. Along the west coast of Alaska

35. Name an example of a place where intraplate earthquakes have occurred.

A. San Andreas fault seismic zone

B. Kobe seismic zone

C. New Madrid seismic zone

D. Indonesian seismic zone

36. Generally speaking, the most dangerous earthquakes tend to be

A. large magnitude and at great depth.

B. large magnitude and at shallow depth.

C. small magnitude and at great depth.

D. small magnitude and at shallow depth.

37. Where does ground amplification of seismic waves often take place?

A. On a mid-ocean ridge

B. On a transform fault

C. In sedimentary basins

D. In mountainous bedrock areas

38. What causes liquefaction to take place?

A. Surface rupture on a fault

B. Ground shaking

C. Fires ignited by downed power lines

D. Tsunamis

39. What causes the majority of tsunamis to form?

A. Submarine landslides

B. Subduction zone earthquakes

C. Volcanic explosions

D. Asteroid impacts

40. What is the name for a location on an active fault where strain has not been released for a significant period of time?

A. A shear zone

B. A fault scarp

C. A g-spot

D. Seismic gap