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University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley *
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1401
Subject
Geology
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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Uploaded by ChancellorEnergy12934
Answer the following questions and reply to at least one of your fellow classmates:
(A) Explain step-by-step how tsunamis are formed?
[20 points]
Tsunamis occur due to many different natural phenomena's like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and faults. This in
turn creates a displacement of water that make a wave train.
these waves can have a wavelength of up to hundreds of
kilometers, and as they near the shallow water, the wave slows down pushing the water upwards. This is why the
water on the shoreline recedes backwards, and before hitting, the wavelength decreases as the wave height increases
until it hits like a quickly-rising flood.
(B) How do tsunamis differ from storm waves?
[15 points]
Storm waves and tsunamis occur due to different natural phenomena. Storm waves are made during hurricanes while
tsunamis come from earthquake and seismic activity.
Storm waves begin when shore winds push water near the
coastline during a hurricane. Unlike storm waves, tsunamis bring more damage and take more lives but aren't seen as
often as storm waves are. Lastly, Storm waves can be predicted days before they occur unlike tsunamis.
(C) Explain the differences among the scales used to describe the size of an earthquake.
[20 points]
The Richter scale was used to measure the magnitude of Earthquakes but it was later replaced. The Moment
Magnitude scale is used to measure the movement of rocks along faults. While the Mercalli scale measure the levels of
intensity of an earthquake based on the damage it causes.
(D) Can more than one intensity number be assigned to a given earthquake? Why? Can there be more
than one magnitude?
[15 points]
The intensity scale measures the effect of the earthquake at different locations in the area. Which is why
there can be different intensity measures. There can be more than one magnitude because its measuring
logarithmically and the waves could differ based on the location of the earthquake.
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