different between earthquake vs trepidatory

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

Adjective

trepidatory (comparative more trepidatory, superlative most trepidatory)

1. That trepidates, or that causes trepidations.
   • 1953, Charles Egerton Osgood, Method and Theory in Experimental Psychology

     Unfortunately, like Guthrie he has never given a formal statement of his principles, and it is therefore up to the reader to ferret out these things for himself — always a trepidatory procedure.

   • 2003, Laurence Gardner, Realm of the Ring Lords

     This was all very good news for the Church bishops because the shapeshifting werewolf had a limited trepidatory function, especially in places like England where wolves were generally unknown, although some existed then to the north in Scotland.
2. Of an earthquake, having a vertical, up-and-down motion, as opposed to a horizontal, side-to-side motion.
   • 1843, Captin Sir Edward Belcher RN, Narrative of a Voyage Round the World

     This [earthquake] was felt at Mexico at precisely the same hour, lasting there about one minute and a half, the motion there being undulatory, but at Acapulco trepidatory.

   • 1882, Knowledge, volume 1

     The most severe shock lasted for 70 seconds, and combined oscillatory, trepidatory, and rotatory movement.

   • 1995, Elena Poniatowska, Aurora Camacho de Schmidt and Arthur Schmidt, Nothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake

     The particular trepidatory and oscillatory patterns arising from the lake bed especially afflicted high-rise buildings between six and fifteen stories.