(meteorology) The depletion of surface snow and ice from a spacecraft or meteorite through melting and evaporation caused by friction with the atmosphere.
(seismology, colloquial, usually with the) A hypothetical massive earthquake somewhere along the Pacific coast of North America, but especially one projected to cause catastrophic damage to a major city such as Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles.
(volcanology) A gradual uplift or descent of part of the Earth's surface caused by the filling or emptying of an underground magma chamber and/or hydrothermal activity, particularly in volcanic calderas
(geology) the chemical boundary layer between the surface of the Earth and the asthenosphere that contains the material differentiated or extracted from the mantle
(geology) In seismograms, the gradual return to baseline after a seismic event. The length of the coda can be used to estimate event magnitude, and the shape sometimes reveals details of subsurface structures.
(earthquake engineering) A sliding type of low friction base isolation for protection of building structures against lateral impact of strong earthquakes.
The theorized situation where one earthquake triggers a series of other large earthquakes, along the same plate boundary, as the stress transfers along the fault system.
(geology) A rhythmic shaking of the ground detectable by a seismograph, and associated with volcanic activity. Often a symptomatic warning of an eruption.
(geology) The severity of an earthquake in terms of its effects on the earth's surface, and buildings. The value depends on the distance from the epicentre, and is not to be confused with the magnitude.
(geology) The largest earthquake in a sequence, sometimes preceded by foreshocks and almost always followed by aftershocks which are of lesser intensity.
(geology) Any of the continuous background movements of the Earth's surface and interior, having a period of 1 to 9 seconds, not associated with any seismic activity
(geology, seismology) A transverse, shear wave, such as that produced by an earthquake. Movement is transverse to the direction of propagation and is a body wave.
(geology) A quantity used to determine the size of an earthquake. Calculated either from a seismogram, or from the measurement of the area affected and the displacement of the rocks.
An assessment of the probability that the social or economic consequences of an earthquake would exceed a specific value at a specific place and time; used in the planning of buildings etc.
Alternative form of shadow zone [(geology, seismology) An area of the Earth's surface where seismographs cannot detect direct P-waves or S-waves from an earthquake.]
(seismology) A discontinuous earthquake-like event that releases energy over a period of hours to months, rather than the seconds to minutes characteristic of a typical earthquake.
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