In “The Broken Earth” trilogy, the seismic-controlling ability is called orogeny.
Orogeny allows specially gifted people called orogenes to sense and manipulate thermal, kinetic, and geological energy. They can calm earthquakes, redirect seismic forces, alter ground movement, and—in especially dramatic cases—trigger devastating geological events. The ability is treated less like conventional spellcasting than an unusual human relationship with the planet’s energy.
N. K. Jemisin’s trilogy follows a world called the Stillness, where catastrophic “Fifth Seasons” repeatedly disrupt civilization. Orogenes are therefore valuable to governments but also feared and persecuted. The Fulcrum trains and controls many of them, including Essun and Alabaster.
A common mix-up is confusing orogeny with orogene: orogeny is the ability, while an orogene is the person who possesses it. The term also resembles the real geological word “orogeny,” which refers to mountain-building processes, but Jemisin gives it a fictional, broader meaning tied directly to seismic control.