Volcanoes and Earthquakes Quiz

Grade 6 · Science · Quiz

Test your knowledge of earthquakes, volcanoes, faults, and seismic activity.

Questions

Where does an earthquake originate underground?
1. Epicenter
2. Fault plane
3. Focus (hypocenter)
4. Seismic gap
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Answer: Focus (hypocenter)
The focus is the actual point underground where rock ruptures and releases energy. The epicenter is the point on the surface directly above it.
About 90% of the world's earthquakes occur in the Ring of Fire.
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Answer: True
The Ring of Fire traces the edges of several tectonic plates around the Pacific Ocean, making it the most seismically and volcanically active zone on Earth.
What type of rock forms when lava cools quickly on Earth's surface?
1. Sedimentary rock
2. Metamorphic rock
3. Igneous rock
4. Sandstone
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Answer: Igneous rock
Igneous rock forms when magma or lava cools and solidifies. 'Igneous' comes from the Latin word for fire.
Energy released during an earthquake travels as ___ waves.
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Answer: seismic
Seismic waves radiate outward from the focus in all directions, like ripples in water. They're detected by seismographs.
Volcanoes are most common along which type of plate boundary?
1. Transform boundaries only
2. Convergent and divergent boundaries
3. Anywhere on Earth
4. Mid-continent locations
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Answer: Convergent and divergent boundaries
At convergent boundaries, subducting plates melt and form magma. At divergent boundaries, magma rises through gaps. Both produce volcanoes.
The Richter scale measures the depth of an earthquake.
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Answer: False
The Richter scale (and moment magnitude scale) measures the magnitude (energy released) of an earthquake, not its depth.
What happens to oceanic crust at a subduction zone that can lead to volcanic eruptions?
1. It rises upward to form mountains
2. It melts in the mantle and forms magma
3. It breaks apart into faults
4. It transforms into continental crust
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Answer: It melts in the mantle and forms magma
As an oceanic plate subducts, the increasing heat and pressure cause it to melt into magma, which can rise through the overlying plate to form volcanoes.
The Hawaiian Islands were formed as the Pacific Plate moved over a volcanic ___.
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Answer: hot spot
A hot spot is a stationary mantle plume. As the Pacific Plate moves northwest over it, it burns through the crust to form a new volcanic island each time.
What instrument detects and records seismic waves from earthquakes?
1. Thermometer
2. Barometer
3. Seismograph
4. Anemometer
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Answer: Seismograph
A seismograph records the ground motion from seismic waves. The printed record is called a seismogram.
Volcanic eruptions can actually enrich soil and create new land.
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Answer: True
Volcanic ash and lava weather into nutrient-rich soil. Also, lava flows harden to form new land — all of the Hawaiian Islands were built this way.

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