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Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes Online MCQs with Answers
What is the theory that explains the movement of Earth’s lithospheric plates?
a) Seafloor spreading
b) Continental drift
c) Plate tectonics
d) Subduction
Which layer of the Earth is broken into several large and small plates?
a) Crust
b) Mantle
c) Outer core
d) Inner core
The theory of plate tectonics suggests that continents were once joined together in a supercontinent called:
a) Gondwana
b) Laurasia
c) Pangea
d) Rodinia
What is the term for the boundary where two lithospheric plates move away from each other?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction zone
Which type of plate boundary is associated with the formation of new crust?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction zone
What is the term for the boundary where two lithospheric plates collide and one plate is forced beneath the other?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction zone
Which type of plate boundary is associated with the formation of mountains?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction zone
What is the term for the boundary where two lithospheric plates slide past each other horizontally?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction zone
Which type of plate boundary is associated with earthquakes?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction zone
What is the term for the process by which new oceanic lithosphere is created at a divergent boundary?
a) Subduction
b) Seafloor spreading
c) Plate collision
d) Continental rift
Which type of fault is characterized by horizontal movement along a transform boundary?
a) Normal fault
b) Reverse fault
c) Strike-slip fault
d) Thrust fault
What is the term for the point within the Earth where an earthquake originates?
a) Focus
b) Epicenter
c) Seismic zone
d) Fault line
Which type of fault is characterized by vertical movement where the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall?
a) Normal fault
b) Reverse fault
c) Strike-slip fault
d) Thrust fault
What is the term for the point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake?
a) Focus
b) Epicenter
c) Seismic zone
d) Fault line
Which type of fault is characterized by vertical movement where the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall?
a) Normal fault
b) Reverse fault
c) Strike-slip fault
d) Thrust fault
What is the term for the measure of the energy released by an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismic wave
Which type of seismic wave is the fastest and travels through solids, liquids, and gases?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the point of greatest shaking during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Peak ground acceleration
Which type of seismic wave is slower than P-waves and can only travel through solids?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the shaking of the Earth’s crust caused by the release of energy during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismic wave
Which type of seismic wave travels along the surface of the Earth and causes the most damage?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for smaller earthquakes that occur after the main earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Peak ground acceleration
Which type of seismic wave causes the ground to move in an elliptical rolling motion?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the measure of the severity of shaking at a particular location during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Peak ground acceleration
What is the term for the speed at which an earthquake wave spreads through the Earth?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Wave velocity
Which type of seismic wave travels along the boundary between different layers of the Earth’s interior?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for a region where a series of earthquakes occur along a fault line?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismic zone
Which type of seismic wave causes the ground to move in a side-to-side motion?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the maximum acceleration of the ground during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Peak ground acceleration
Which type of seismic wave is responsible for the most damage to buildings and infrastructure?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the measure of the amount of energy released by an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismic wave
Which of the following is NOT a scale used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake?
a) Richter scale
b) Moment magnitude scale
c) Mercalli intensity scale
d) Seismograph scale
What is the term for the instrument used to measure and record seismic waves?
a) Seismogram
b) Seismometer
c) Seismoscope
d) Seismograph
Which of the following is NOT a factor that affects the intensity of shaking during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude of the earthquake
b) Distance from the epicenter
c) Depth of the focus
d) Frequency of the seismic waves
What is the term for a region of the Earth’s interior where seismic waves cannot pass through?
a) Seismic zone
b) Seismic gap
c) Shadow zone
d) Epicenter
Which of the following is NOT a method used to locate the epicenter of an earthquake?
a) Triangulation
b) Time difference of arrival
c) Seismic gap analysis
d) Seismogram analysis
What is the term for a region along a fault line where no earthquakes have occurred recently?
a) Seismic zone
b) Seismic gap
c) Shadow zone
d) Epicenter
Which type of seismic wave travels along the Earth’s surface and causes the most damage?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the study of earthquakes and seismic waves?
a) Seismology
b) Seismicity
c) Seismography
d) Seismic analysis
Which of the following is NOT a source of earthquake activity?
a) Plate boundaries
b) Volcanic activity
c) Tectonic plate movement
d) Atmospheric pressure
What is the term for the process by which energy is transferred from one place to another without the movement of matter?
a) Conduction
b) Convection
c) Radiation
d) Seismicity
Which of the following is NOT a type of plate boundary?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Subduction boundary
What is the term for the point where three tectonic plates meet?
a) Convergent boundary
b) Divergent boundary
c) Transform boundary
d) Triple junction
What is the term for the process by which one tectonic plate moves beneath another?
a) Subduction
b) Seafloor spreading
c) Continental drift
d) Plate collision
Which of the following is NOT a factor that determines the intensity of an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Depth of the focus
c) Distance from the epicenter
d) Type of fault
What is the term for the process by which two tectonic plates collide and create a mountain range?
a) Subduction
b) Seafloor spreading
c) Continental drift
d) Orogeny
Which type of fault is characterized by the hanging wall moving up relative to the footwall?
a) Normal fault
b) Reverse fault
c) Strike-slip fault
d) Thrust fault
What is the term for the measure of the size of an earthquake based on the amplitude of seismic waves?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismicity
Which type of seismic wave causes the ground to move in an up-and-down motion?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) Surface wave
d) Rayleigh wave
What is the term for the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves?
a) Earthquake
b) Seismogram
c) Seismometer
d) Seismicity
Which of the following is NOT a method used to measure the intensity of an earthquake?
a) Richter scale
b) Mercalli intensity scale
c) Moment magnitude scale
d) Seismograph scale
What is the term for the measure of the shaking of the ground during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismic wave
Which type of fault is characterized by the hanging wall moving down relative to the footwall?
a) Normal fault
b) Reverse fault
c) Strike-slip fault
d) Thrust fault
What is the term for the scale used to measure the intensity of shaking during an earthquake?
a) Richter scale
b) Mercalli intensity scale
c) Moment magnitude scale
d) Seismograph scale
Which of the following is NOT a method used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake?
a) Richter scale
b) Mercalli intensity scale
c) Moment magnitude scale
d) Seismograph scale
What is the term for the measure of the total energy released by an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismicity
Which of the following is NOT a type of seismic wave?
a) P-wave
b) S-wave
c) L-wave
d) R-wave
What is the term for the shaking or trembling of the Earth’s surface caused by seismic waves?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Seismicity
Which type of fault is characterized by the hanging wall moving horizontally past the footwall?
a) Normal fault
b) Reverse fault
c) Strike-slip fault
d) Thrust fault
What is the term for the measure of the amount of slip on a fault during an earthquake?
a) Magnitude
b) Intensity
c) Aftershock
d) Rupture length