Back to the full dot-point answer
EnglandGeologyQuick questions
Human interaction with the Earth
Quick questions on Earthquake hazards and prediction: seismic waves, locating the epicentre, magnitude and mitigation - Eduqas GCSE Geology
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are seismic waves?Show answer
The released energy travels out as seismic waves, recorded by a seismograph. Two body-wave types matter at GCSE:
What is measuring magnitude?Show answer
The magnitude is a measure of the energy released, found from the amplitude (size) of the waves on the seismograph (corrected for distance). The magnitude scale is logarithmic, so each step up represents a large jump in energy. Magnitude is one number for the whole earthquake; the intensity of shaking felt at a place also depends on distance, depth and ground conditions.
What are the hazards?Show answer
A large earthquake brings several linked hazards:
What are reducing the risk when prediction fails?Show answer
Precise short-term prediction (the exact time and place) is not possible. Forecasting instead uses probability from past records: regions on active margins are assigned a likelihood over decades. Because the timing cannot be known, risk is reduced by preparation:
What is q1?Show answer
State the difference between the focus and the epicentre of an earthquake. [1 mark]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain why the gap between P-wave and S-wave arrivals can be used to find the distance to an earthquake. [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Give one way the risk from earthquakes can be reduced. [1 mark]
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.