foreshock
1
7.5
- noun
- /ˈfɔːrʃɑk/
- Specialized
- A 5.8 earthquake is huge for the eastern US (or any place in the middle of a plate), and so this is unlikely to be just a foreshock.
Examples
-
He had good reason to believe that it was a foreshock, a precursor to an event of far greater magnitude.
Fiction book (2000) -
The faults and the plates are so connected with each other, and earthquakes can be predicted by observing the foreshocks away from the point of actual breakage, especially in the polar and subpolar regions.
Blog text (18) -
The first storm is basically just a foreshock.
-
Both might have been foreshocks, with the main event still to come.
Fiction book (2000) -
If there is a foreshock, it will register, and you just might have time to evacuate.
-
Some would say these quakes are foreshocks, Cobol and Sickputer.
Blog text (31) -
See the 7.2 Mw foreshock that hit two days before, or the 7.7 Mw Miyagi Earthquake that happened in practically the same place as the 2011 Sendai quake.
Blog text (20) -
Seismologists analyze foreshocks to predict the possibility of a larger earthquake.
-
Residents were alerted when they felt a foreshock before the main tremor hit.
-
The team noted that the foreshock occurred just minutes before the significant quake.
Synonyms
25
4.9
A small earthquake that moves the ground slightly
4
8.6
A sudden shaking of the ground caused by movement inside the earth
3
4.6
A sudden shaking of the ground that happens when energy is released underground
1
3.7
A small earthquake that causes little or no damage
Antonyms
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word foreshock combines fore- meaning 'before' and shock meaning 'a sudden movement or hit', so it means a small quake that comes before a larger one. That's why a foreshock is a minor tremor that can warn of a bigger earthquake.