80 Earthquakes And Plate Tectonics Trivia Questions with Answers
80 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
Which fault ruptured during the 2015 earthquake that struck Nepal?
Answer
Main Himalayan Thrust
What was the name of the 1995 earthquake that devastated Kobe, Japan?
Answer
Great Hanshin earthquake
Which 2004 earthquake off Sumatra triggered a devastating Indian Ocean tsunami?
Answer
Sumatra–Andaman earthquake
Which 2010 earthquake caused catastrophic damage in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince?
Answer
2010 Haiti earthquake
What is the standard magnitude scale used today for comparing large earthquakes?
Answer
Moment magnitude scale
Which earthquake struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906?
Answer
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Which discontinuity marks the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle?
Answer
Mohorovičić discontinuity
What theory explains earthquakes as the sudden release of strain built up by locked faults?
Answer
Elastic rebound theory
What is the global system of underwater mountain chains where new oceanic crust forms?
Answer
Mid-ocean ridge
Which tectonic plate is the largest on Earth by area?
Answer
Pacific Plate
What instrument records the ground motion produced by earthquakes?
Answer
Seismograph
What type of plate boundary forms when two tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other?
Answer
Transform boundary
Which 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan?
Answer
Tōhoku earthquake
What was the largest earthquake ever recorded by instruments, measured at magnitude 9.5?
Answer
1960 Valdivia earthquake
What is the name for the inclined earthquake zone marking a descending tectonic plate?
Answer
Wadati–Benioff zone
What is the boundary called where Earth’s crust meets the mantle?
Answer
Mohorovičić discontinuity
Which two tectonic plates meet along California’s San Andreas Fault?
Answer
Pacific and North American plates