Starter quiz
- In the event of an earthquake, ....
- weather turns severe
- lava erupts from the ground
- there is a sudden shaking of the ground ✓
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What is the layer in the centre of Earth?- 'Inner core' ✓
- Order the layers of Earth into their correct order starting with the outer most layer.
- 1⇔Crust
- 2⇔Mantle
- 3⇔Outer core
- 4⇔Inner core
- What is the largest layer of Earth?
- 'mantle ' ✓
What are these?- 'Tectonic plates' ✓
- Why do tectonic plates move?
- because the sea moves them
- because they sit on top of Earth's moving mantle ✓
- because they are moved by the pressure of humans standing on them
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Exit quiz
- The point deep underground where the tectonic plates first break or slip is called the...
- focus ✓
- epicentre
- mantle
- seismic wave
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- What are the waves of energy called that pulsate out when the tectonic plates first slip?
- 'Seismic waves' ✓
- Where are earthquakes felt the strongest?
- crust
- epicentre ✓
- focus
- ground
-
- What is the strength of an earthquake called?
- 'Magnitude' ✓
- Which scale is commonly used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes?
- Richter scale
- Mercalli Scale
- Moment magnitude scale ✓
-
- Which scale is commonly used to measure the impact of an earthquake at its epicentre?
- seismographs
- mercalli scale ✓
- the richter scale
- moment magnitude scale
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Worksheet
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The focus of an earthquake is deep underground - seismic waves radiate out from the focus.
- The epicentre is on the surface, directly above the focus and is where the earthquake is felt most strongly.
- The power of an earthquake is called its magnitude and is measured on the Richter scale.
Common misconception
Earthquakes are their strongest at their epicentre.
Earthquakes are felt their strongest at their epicentre as that is where humans first feel them. Earthquakes are actually their strongest at their focus point, but humans do not feel them until seismic waves have travelled through the Earth's crust.
Keywords
Focus - The point inside Earth’s crust where the earthquake starts is called the focus.
Epicentre - The epicentre is the point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.
Seismic waves - Seismic waves are vibrations that travel through Earth generated by an earthquake or an explosion.
Magnitude - Magnitude is a measure of the size of the seismic waves generated by an earthquake.
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