Earthquakes Quiz!! Name ________________________
(+55 points possible) Date ______________
Answer the following questions about “Measuring Earthquakes”.
Be sure to use complete sentences and show your work.
1. What does amplitude mean? Draw and label a sketch as part of your explanation. (+5)
2. When Charles Richter developed his scale to measure the magnitude of an earthquake, what amplitude
in millimeters, of a seismograph 100 kilometers away, did he consider to have a magnitude of 2? How
does the amplitude of a magnitude 2 earthquake compare to the amplitude of a magnitude 4 earthquake?
(+5)
3. Your seismograph registered an amplitude of 2818.4 mm and you are located 200 km from the
epicenter.
a) Find the magnitude of the earthquake. (+5)
b) Find the distance that the earth moved at the epicenter. (+5)
c) Find the distance that the earth moved at your location. (+5)
4. If the magnitude of an earthquake was 8.7 on the Richter scale, find the amplitude and ground
movement at the epicenter. Be sure to give the ground movement in terms of the most reasonable unit. (+5)
5. a) Find the magnitude of the earthquake that registered the following amplitudes at three different
locations. (Remember to find the average.) (+5)
Location amplitude distance
Spokane, WA 1,258.9 mm 452 km
Victoria, BC 79,432.8 mm 78 km
Seattle, WA 47,510.2 mm 122 km
Magnitude =
b) How much did the ground move at the epicenter of this quake? (+5)
6. In the early morning hours on January 8, 2001, an earthquake woke the residents of Kodiak, Alaska. At
the epicenter of the quake the amplitude was measured as 316.23 meters.
a) Find the magnitude of this earthquake. (+5)
b) Find the amount the ground moved 55 km from the epicenter. (+5)
7. Explain what is meant by a Convergent Plate boundary and give an example found in the northwest. (+5)
BONUS +5
A number of people were surveyed as they came out of Baskin Robbins Ice Cream during a hot summer week
(definitely not this week!). Of those surveyed six had cones with scoops of Chocolate Fudge, Cookies ‘n Cream, and
Strawberry Shortcake. Fourteen had scoops of Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate Fudge, and 16 had only Strawberry
Shortcake. Eighteen had scoops of Cookies ‘n Cream and Chocolate Fudge, while a total of 36 had at least one scoop of
Chocolate Fudge. Forty people came and went without ordering any of these three flavors, while 32 ordered at least one
scoop of Strawberry Shortcake and 26 ordered at least one scoop of Cookies ‘n Cream.
How many people were surveyed during that week?
How many people had only Cookies ‘n Cream?
How many people had Chocolate Fudge OR Cookies ‘n Cream?
How many people had both Strawberry Shortcake and Cookies ‘n Cream?
How many people had only Chocolate Fudge and Strawberry scoops?