Volcano/Earthquake Vocabulary

A fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock mass movement.

The Ring of Fire is an area in the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

A type of fault whose relative motion is predominantly horizontal in either direction.

When it stays the same.

Coming closer together.

A type of body wave, called seismic waves in seismology.

A type of elastic wave.

The point on the earth’s surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake.

The location where the earthquake begins.

A base-10 logarithmic scale, which defines magnitude as the logarithm of the ratio of the amplitude of the seismic waves to an arbitrary, minor amplitude.

A volcanic term to describe a violent, explosive type of eruption.

They are relatively calm and do not explode out of the volcano.

It is an Island in Indonesia that has an explosive volcano on it.

The Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera and supervolcano located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly 1300 km through California.

An underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics.

A broad, domed volcano with gently sloping sides, characteristic of the eruption of fluid, basaltic lava.

A steep, conical hill consisting of glassy volcanic fragments that accumulate around and downwind from a volcanic vent.

A conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash.

A place deep within the Earth where hot magma rises to just underneath the surface, creating a bulge and volcanic activity.