12.1. Earthquakes – Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter of the textbook, learning the vocabulary, and working through the review questions, students should be able to:

• Define the terms earthquake and fault.
• Describe the processes that can cause earthquakes.
• Draw and describe the different types of faults.
• Define elastic rebound theory and describe how strain build up can lead to earthquakes.
• Draw a diagram showing an earthquake including the epicentre, focus, and fault.
• Draw and describe the types of seismic waves.
• Describe how seismographs work and how we can use seismic information to locate the epicentre of an earthquake.
• Describe the different methods we use to describe earthquake magnitude and intensity, and name the ones we use most commonly today.
• Define seismology and describe how it is used to study the Earth.
• Describe and compare and contrast the earthquakes we observe at transform, convergent, and divergent plate tectonic boundaries and in intraplate environments.
• Describe primary and secondary hazards associated with earthquakes and provide examples of location(s) where each type of hazard could occur.
• Describe earthquake activity in Canada: distribution, sources, approximate magnitudes.

Learning outcomes not covered in the textbook chapter in detail, but we may discuss them in class (depending on your professor):

• Describe patterns of earthquake foreshocks and aftershocks in terms of magnitude and spatial distribution after a major earthquake.