Earthquakes - Multiple Choice Test

The reason for most earthquakes is
1. a sudden movement of the Earth's plates
2. a volcanic eruption
3. a wave of meteorites that hit the Earth
4. a series of underground explosions
Breaks in the Earth's crust are called
1. faults
2. eruptions
3. epicenters
4. seismometers
Some plates meet at the bottom of the ocean because
1. the Earth's crust is very thin there
2. there is a lot of lava in the rocks
3. the Earth's crust is too thick
4. the area is farthest away from land
Most of the world's earthquakes occur
1. around the Pacific Ocean
2. in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
3. in Central Asia
4. in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
Surface waves
1. cause the most damage
2. move faster than body waves
3. are at the beginning of an earthquake
4. can travel through rock and water
The place where the earthquake takes place is called the
1. focus
2. epicenter
3. body
4. seismometer
The strongest earthquake ever recorded on the Richter scale had a magnitude of
1. 9.5
2. 10.0
3. 7.6
4. 8.2
Most of San Francisco was destroyed after the 1906 earthquake because
1. a fire burned down most of the wooden buildings
2. a tsunami flooded the city with water
3. the city was very small at the time
4. the houses were very old