And the Earth Moved Trivia Quiz

Answer: 8

The March 11, 2011 earthquake moved Japan's main island, Honshu, about 8 feet and also shifted Earth's figure axis about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters). It also destroyed many areas of the northeast coast including the city of Sendai.

Answer: accelerated, shortened

Japan's earthquake accelerated Earth's spin and shortened the length of the 24 hour day by 1.8 microseconds (per NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California).

Answer: True

The Richter scale was specific to California earthquakes. The newer Moment Magnitude Scale, abbreviated Mw, is more accurate for larger quakes, magnitude 8 and above, and is applicable globally. It is a product of the distance a fault moved and the force required to move it. Fortunately there have not been any 10.0 earthquakes yet.

Answer: Alaska

Known as the Great Alaska earthquake, or the Good Friday earthquake, it measured a 9.2 on the Richter scale. It was centered in the Prince William Sound area. It also triggered an extremely powerful tsunami due to underwater landslides. The wave height in one of the bays measured 219 feet. The majority of people who died were killed by the tsunami.

Answer: Chile

The 9.5 quake known as the Great Chilean earthquake was the strongest recorded in the 20th century. There may have been larger ones before it but this is the largest since accurate measuring systems have been developed. It produced a rupture zone of an incredible 500 miles and the coastal area associated with the quake fell 5 feet which left many coastal buildings under water.

Answer: True

The sloshing of water back and forth in a small body of water, known as seiche waves, were seen on a grand scale as a result of this earthquake. Obviously the oceans of the world are not small bodies of water, which should illustrate just how strong the earthquake was.

A number of fishing boats sank as far away as Louisiana and water in wells were reported to rise and fall as far away as South Africa. Both phenomena were caused by these waves traveling from Alaska around the globe.

Answer: Game three of the World Series

ABC Sports was covering game three of the World Series between across the bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's. As the game was just about to begin the picture suddenly vanished and only the audio portion of the broadcast remained.

The broadcasters could be heard saying that it was an earthquake and when the picture returned players and fans could be seen wandering on the field and in the stands, not panicked but not quite knowing what to do. The game was cancelled and the coverage by ABC continued to show the devastation of both the cities involved in the game.

Answer: The Earth's mass is balanced around it.

When we see that some piece of land was moved by a few feet and has shortened the 24 hour day by microseconds during an earthquake we know that the figure axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced has been affected. It is offset from the Earth's north/south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).

Answer: 50

The Earth rattles constantly. About 50 measurable earthquakes occur every day. On average, according to the USGS, there are 18 major earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0 to 7.9, and one great earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher every year. The number of earthquakes with a magnitude over 7.0 has remained consistent for the past century.

Answer: Ring

The Ring of Fire is the area around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. This is where the oceanic plates meet the continental plates. They press against each other and the pressure builds over time until one of them gives way. When this happens one of the plates slides under, or sub-ducts, the other plate.

The sudden movement of the plates causes a shaking vibration that extends outward in all directions from the point of break, the epicenter. Depending on the depth of the break, the distance of movement of the rock and the surrounding geology the waves can extend great distances and cause very violent shaking.