# earthquake

Pronunciation: say "URTH-kwayk" US /ˈɝθkweɪk/, UK /ˈɜːθkweɪk/

## Noun

1. Shaking of the earth's surface that results from rock shifting along geologic faults or from volcanic activity.
   - Simple: A shaking of the ground caused by rock suddenly moving deep below the surface.
   - _The earthquake toppled chimneys across the older part of the city._
   - _Scientists placed sensors along the fault line to record even the smallest earthquakes._
2. A sudden, intense upheaval, or any event that causes severe disruption.
   - Simple: A sudden big change or shock that upsets everything around it.
   - _The court's ruling was a political earthquake that reshaped the campaign overnight._
   - _The collapse of the region's biggest bank set off an economic earthquake that lasted for years._
3. A quake of the ground occurring specifically on the planet Earth, as distinguished from quakes on other celestial bodies.
   - Simple: A ground shaking that happens on our planet Earth, not on the Moon or another world.
   - _Seismometers on Mars detect marsquakes, while networks on our own planet record thousands of earthquakes each year._
   - _Unlike a moonquake, an earthquake typically results from slippage along boundaries between tectonic plates._

## Verb

4. To undergo an earthquake; to be shaken by seismic movement of the ground.
   - Simple: To shake and move because an earthquake is happening there.
   - _Regions along major faults earthquake far more often than the stable interiors of continents._
   - _The coast earthquaked so violently that bridges swayed for nearly a minute._

## Origin

From Middle English erthequake, from earth + quake. It replaced the earlier Middle English eorð byfung, from Old English eorþbeofung, which literally meant 'earth shaking'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/earthquake (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).