1. What type of stress/forces are found at a convergent plate boundary?A. Tensional B. CompressionalC. ShearD. None of the above.

2. What type of stress/forces are found at a transform plate boundary?A. Tensional B. CompressionalC. ShearD. None of the above.

3. Which type of plate boundary tends to have the deepest earthquakes?A. ConvergentB. DivergentC. TransformD. They all have deep earthquakes.

4. What is the zone of earthquakes along a subduction boundary called?A. Moho discontinuiteyB. Low velocity zoneC. Wadati-Benioff zoneD. Seismic Gap

5. What is the point on Earth’s surface directly above the location of an earthquake called?

A. FocusB. EpicenterC. Slip surfaceD. Fault trace

6. Which of the following are surface waves?A. P-wavesB. S-wavesC. Rayleigh wavesD. Love wavesE. Both A and BF. Both C and D

7. Which of the following are Body waves?A. P-wavesB. S-wavesC. Rayleigh wavesD. Love wavesE. Both A and BF. Both C and D

8. Which of the following are the fastest waves?A. P-wavesB. S-wavesC. Rayleigh wavesD. Love waves

9. How is the distance to an earthquake epicenter measured?A. Measure the difference in arrival time of P and S waves,

and use a travel-time curve to determine the distance.B. Measure the difference in arrival time of P and Surface

waves, and use a travel-time curve to determine the distance.

C. Measure the distance between the P wave and the S wave

D. Measure the distance between the P wave and the surface waves.

10. What is the minimum number of seismograph stations necessary to locate an earthquake?A. 2B. 3C. 4D. 5

11. The S-wave shadow zone is created byA. the inability of S-waves to travel through the

liquid part of the asthenosphere.B. The inability of S-waves to travel through the

outer core.C. The reflection of S-waves off the inner core.D. The refraction of S-waves as they pass through

the mantle.

12. The P-wave shadow zone is caused byA. Interference patterns with the S-waves in the

outer core.B. The inability of p-waves to travel through the

outer core.C. The strong refraction of p-waves traveling

through the outer core.D. The reflection of p-waves off the outer core.

13. Which of the following shows the arrival of a P-wave in the picture below?

A. A.B. B.C. C.D. All squiggles look the same to me.

A. B.

C.

14. Which of the following shows the arrival of surface waves in the picture below?

A. A.B. B.C. C.D. All squiggles look the same to me.

A. B.

C.

15. Each whole number step up in magnitude on the Richter scale is equivalent to a ______ times step up in linear ground motion.

A. 10B. 20C. 30D. 100

16. Each whole number step up in magnitude on the Richter scale is equivalent to a ______ times increase in total energy.

A. 10B. 20C. 30D. 100

17. Which of the following is true about tsunamis?

A. They have a large amplitude in the open ocean (> 10 m).

B. They have a fairly short wavelength (< 10 m).C. They have a high frequency (> 10 waves/min.)D. They travel very fast ( > 500 km/hr).

18. What is the largest factor in determining how tall a tsunami’s height will be when the wave hits land?

A. The size of the displacement on the ocean floor.B. The steepness of the coastline.C. The velocity of the wave.D. The frequency of the wave.

19. Why did the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean kill so many people?

A. Lack of a tsunami warning system for the Indian ocean.B. Many coastlines rimming the Indian ocean are flat,

low-lying area. C. High population densities in many areas surrounding

the Indian ocean.D. All of the above.

20. Where does liquefaction occur?

A. In uncompacted saturated soils.B. In rocks previously damaged by earthquakes.C. Along the surface trace of a fault.D. Underneath any double decker highway.

21. How can liquefaction be prevented?

A. By injecting cementing agents into the soil.B. By sinking rigid beams into the ground.C. By pumping out ground water in sandy areas.D. It can’t be prevented.

22. Which of the following is not a piece of evidence that the PNW has had mega-quakes in the past?A. Japanese records of a tsunami created by a

PNW quake.B. Sunken and “ghost” forestsC. Native American legends telling of megaquakes.D. Tsunami deposits on PNW coastlines.

23. What type of fault is the Seattle fault?A. Shallow fault in the N. American plateB. Deep fault in the N. American plateC. Shallow fault in the Juan de Fuca plate.D. Deep fault in the Juan de Fuca plate.

24. Why is the Alaskan Way Viaduct at high risk from damage during an earthquake?A. Located on landfill that may liquefyB. Located next to an aging sea wallC. Double decker design may pancake.D. Located in potential megaquake territory.E. Come on, this is SO obvious. It is doomed in a

megaquake for all of the above reasons.

25. A building material flexes during an earthquake, but then returns to its original shape. This material exhibited

A. Elastic deformationB. Brittle deformationC. Plastic deformationD. Magical properties

26. What type of fault is shown in the picture below? (picture is a cross-section view)

A. Normal faultB. Reverse faultC. Strike-slip faultD. None of the above.

27. What type of fault is shown in the picture below? (picture is a cross-section view)

A. Normal faultB. Reverse faultC. Strike-slip faultD. None of the above.

28. Which block is the hanging wall in the picture below?

A. AB. BC. BothD. neither

A

B

29. What type of plate boundary typically has strike-slip faults?

A. Converging B. Diverging C. TransformD. None of the above.

30. Which material below can suffer from “bird-caging” during an earthquake?

A. BrickB. WoodC. Steel RebarD. Concrete

31. Why do chimneys tend to topple during earthquakes?

A. They are made of brick, which is brittle.B. They stick up above the roof-line, and are not

supported.C. They have been weakened by prolonged exposure

to heat from the fireplace.D. Both A and B.

32. What is seismic isolation?

A. Safe rooms where people can go during an earthquake.B. Floors that are reinforced so that they will not pancake

during an earthquake.C. Using shear walls to isolate stresses during

earthquakes.D. Using isolation bearings to absorb earthquake motion

instead of the building.

33. What can keep a tall skyscraper from toppling during an earthquake?A. Make the center of mass of the building below

ground level.B. Secure it with large steel cables to nearby tall objects.C. Have the building be flexible enough to transmit the

wave energy from the base of the building to the top.D. You can’t. They are doomed like dominoes.

Answer Key1. B 11. B 21. D 31. D2. C 12. C 22. C 32. D3. A 13. A 23. A 33. A4. C 14. C 24. E5. B 15. A 25. A6. F 16. C 26. B7. E 17. D 27. A8. A 18. B 28. A9. A 19. D 29. C10. B 20. A 30. C