Earthquake Quiz

Try out this Earthquake quiz to test your knowledge. Earthquake trivia brings together surprising, family-friendly facts about the ground-shaking events that have shaped landscapes, cities, and scientific understanding across history.

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15 questions

~3 min to finish

Easy to hard difficulty

550 pts max score

Question 1 · Hard · 40 pts
Moment magnitude is derived from what underlying quantity that itself depends on fault area, slip, and rock rigidity?
Question 2 · Hard · 40 pts
What observational feature helped scientists infer that Earth’s outer core is liquid?
Question 3 · Hard · 40 pts
Before moment magnitude became dominant, which older scale based on one class of seismic waves was important in earthquake measurement?
Question 4 · Easy · 10 pts
What is the modern standard for reporting large earthquake magnitudes?
Question 5 · Medium · 20 pts
What everyday phrase do people still toss around for earthquake size, even though scientists now usually report moment magnitude?
Question 6 · Hard · 40 pts
What is the name of the dipping plane of earthquake foci within a subducting slab?
Question 7 · Hard · 40 pts
Which technique uses earthquake waves to create images of structures inside Earth, essentially giving the planet a CT scan?
Question 8 · Hard · 40 pts
Name the boundary between Earth’s mantle and outer core.?
Question 9 · Hard · 40 pts
Which discontinuity marks the separation between Earth’s crust and mantle?
Question 10 · Hard · 40 pts
Which named relation models how aftershock activity decays with time after a mainshock?
Question 11 · Hard · 40 pts
In fault behavior, what term means the average time between similar large ruptures?
Question 12 · Hard · 40 pts
What field studies prehistoric earthquakes by examining geologic evidence such as trench exposures?
Question 13 · Hard · 40 pts
Which segment of the San Andreas Fault became especially famous for earthquake prediction experiments?
Question 14 · Hard · 40 pts
What kind of map estimates the probability of different levels of ground shaking across a region?
Question 15 · Hard · 40 pts
Engineers commonly use what measure to describe earthquake shaking strength at a site?

Moment magnitude is derived from what underlying quantity that itself depends on fault area, slip, and rock rigidity?

What observational feature helped scientists infer that Earth’s outer core is liquid?

Before moment magnitude became dominant, which older scale based on one class of seismic waves was important in earthquake measurement?

What is the modern standard for reporting large earthquake magnitudes?

What everyday phrase do people still toss around for earthquake size, even though scientists now usually report moment magnitude?

What is the name of the dipping plane of earthquake foci within a subducting slab?

Which technique uses earthquake waves to create images of structures inside Earth, essentially giving the planet a CT scan?

Name the boundary between Earth’s mantle and outer core.?

Which discontinuity marks the separation between Earth’s crust and mantle?

Which named relation models how aftershock activity decays with time after a mainshock?

In fault behavior, what term means the average time between similar large ruptures?

What field studies prehistoric earthquakes by examining geologic evidence such as trench exposures?

Which segment of the San Andreas Fault became especially famous for earthquake prediction experiments?

What kind of map estimates the probability of different levels of ground shaking across a region?

Engineers commonly use what measure to describe earthquake shaking strength at a site?