different between earthquake vs seismometer

English

Etymology

From Middle English erthequake, erd-quake, corresponding to earth +? quake. Compare similar formations in eorþbeofung (“earthquake”, literally “earth-shaking”), eorþdyne (“earthquake”, literally “earth-din”), eorþstyring (“earthquake”, literally “earth-stirring”), eorþhr?rness (“earthquake”, literally “earth-stirring”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????kwe?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???kwe?k/

Noun

earthquake (plural earthquakes)

1. A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults. [from 14th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.2:

     Her alablaster brest she soft did kis, / Which all that while shee felt to pant and quake, / As it an Earth-quake were: at last she thus bespake.

   • 2006, Declan Walsh, The Guardian, 6 Oct 2006:

     Last year's earthquake crushed his house, his livelihood and very nearly his leg, he said, pointing to a plastered limb that refuses to heal.

2. (planetary geology) Such a quake specifically occurring on the planet Earth, as opposed to other celestial bodies. [from 20th c.]
   • 1988, Jürgen Oberst and Yosio Nakamura, “A seismic risk for the lunar base” in The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, Vol. 1, p. 231-233, NASA:

     Since the response of some man-made structures to the ground motion near the epicenter is highly dependent on frequency, a significant difference in potential damage to the structures is expected between earthquakes and moonquakes.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• moonquake
• seaquake
• starquake

Translations

Verb

earthquake (third-person singular simple present earthquakes, present participle earthquaking, simple past and past participle earthquaked)

1. (intransitive) To undergo an earthquake.
   • 1993, Gyeorgos C. Hatonn, The Best of Times: The Worst of Times (page 129)

     Watch the Philippines very closely for the next little while. There is rumbling and earthquaking deep within Pinatubo and increased earthquaking within Mayon.

See also

• aftershock
• earthquake engineering
• fault line
• Richter scale
• seismic
• seismograph
• seismologist
• seismology
• tremor
• tsunami

Further reading

• earthquake on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Tectonic hazards/Earthquake on Wikiversity.Wikiversity
• Category:Animations of earthquake impact on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• heartquake

Scots

Alternative forms

• yirthquake, yearthquawk

Noun

earthquake (plural earthquakes)

1. earthquake

   Synonym: yirdquauk

English

seismometer on Wikiversity.Wikiversity

Alternative forms

• seismometre (nonstandard)

Etymology

seismo- +? -meter

Noun

seismometer (plural seismometers)

1. (geology) A device used by seismologists to detect and measure seismic waves and therefore locate earthquakes etc; a seismograph.
   • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything (BCA), page 205:

     Despite the Hebgen Lake quake and the other known risks, Yellowstone didn't get permanent seismometers until the 1970s.

Related terms

• seismometric
• seismometry

Translations

Anagrams

• seismometre