Multiple Choice Questions

Which of the following is directly related to the Richter earthquake-magnitude rating?
  • Horizontally vibrating surface waves
  • Bedrock
  • Amplitude of the seismic waves
  • A shallow-focus quake along the Mississippi Valley fault zone
Why was building damage so extensive in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake?
  • Much of the city is built on filled-in, shallow lakes and swampland.
  • The time interval between the arrivals of the first P and S waves
  • New Madrid, Missouri
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
Why was the Marina District of San Francisco heavily damaged in the 1906 earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta quake?
  • The time interval between the arrivals of the first P and S waves
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
  • Liquefaction
  • Liquefaction and foundation failures were common.
The __________ is the point of origination for an earthquake.
  • Richter
  • seismograph; Richter
  • focus
  • Bedrock
Which of the following situations would result in the largest area of ground-shaking damage?
  • The time interval between the arrivals of the first P and S waves
  • Amplitude of the seismic waves
  • A shallow-focus quake along the Mississippi Valley fault zone
  • Bedrock
What factor produces the largest lateral ground displacement in an earthquake?
  • Horizontally vibrating surface waves
  • The epicenter is at the surface directly above the focus, which is where the earthquake occurs.
  • Amplitude of the seismic waves
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
The __________ magnitude scale is a measure of the energy released. It does not directly measure the extent of building damage.
  • seismograph; Richter
  • Richter
  • focus
  • 32 times
What is the maximum possible damage designation on the Mercalli scale?
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
  • The time interval between the arrivals of the first P and S waves
  • Horizontally vibrating surface waves
  • Liquefaction and foundation failures were common.
What is the name given to material that loses all internal cohesion during earthquake shaking?
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
  • Liquefaction
  • Liquefaction and foundation failures were common.
  • Surface waves
The __________ is used to record ground shaking and the earthquake-magnitude scale was invented by __________.
  • Primary waves
  • seismograph; Richter
  • Richter
  • focus
Which one of the following best characterizes tsunami?
  • They have relatively small amplitudes compared to their very long wavelengths.
  • They occur in the open ocean; their wavelengths are many miles or kilometers and their wave heights are only a few feet.
  • The epicenter is at the surface directly above the focus, which is where the earthquake occurs.
  • S waves travel through solids and P waves travel through solids and liquids.
How does the Mercalli Scale rate earthquakes?
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
  • I to XII, ranging from little damage to total destruction
  • S waves travel through solids and P waves travel through solids and liquids.
  • They have relatively small amplitudes compared to their very long wavelengths.
Which of the following foundation materials is most stable during earthquake shaking?
  • Amplitude of the seismic waves
  • Liquefaction
  • A shallow-focus quake along the Mississippi Valley fault zone
  • Bedrock
What is the direct measure of the distance from a seismic receiving station to the focus of a distant earthquake?
  • Liquefaction and foundation failures were common.
  • Numerous, poorly constructed, top-heavy concrete slab buildings collapsed.
  • The time interval between the arrivals of the first P and S waves
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
Which one of the following statements concerning foci and epicenters is correct?
  • S waves travel through solids and P waves travel through solids and liquids.
  • The epicenter is at the surface directly above the focus, which is where the earthquake occurs.
  • They occur in the open ocean; their wavelengths are many miles or kilometers and their wave heights are only a few feet.
  • They have relatively small amplitudes compared to their very long wavelengths.
Why did the 1988 Armenian earthquake (in the Armenian Republic, then part of the former Soviet Union) result in an estimated 25,000 deaths?
  • Liquefaction and foundation failures were common.
  • The time interval between the arrivals of the first P and S waves
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
  • Numerous, poorly constructed, top-heavy concrete slab buildings collapsed.
Approximately how much more energy is released in a 6.5 Richter magnitude earthquake than in one with magnitude 5.5?
  • 32 times
  • Primary waves
  • Liquefaction
  • Richter
What is the most widely accepted explanation for the mechanism that generates earthquakes?
  • There is total damage; objects are thrown into the air.
  • Liquefaction
  • Reid's elastic rebound theory
  • Amplitude of the seismic waves
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Multiple Choice Questions
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