Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun geology The largest earthquake in a sequence. Sometimes preceded by foreshocks and almost always followed by aftershocks which are of lesser intensity.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • A typical large earthquake will include a mainshock, the largest earthquake in a sequence, and may be preceded by smaller earthquakes known as foreshocks and followed by smaller earthquakes called aftershocks.

    Yellowstone Earthquake Swarms 2004

  • Earthquake swarms are generally defined as clusters of earthquakes closely spaced in time and area that do not have a defined mainshock.

    Yellowstone Earthquake Swarms 2004

  • Since the September 3, 2010 mainshock, there have been approximately 6 M

    The Guardian World News Mark Tran 2011

  • Clusters of earthquakes happen in the Apennines all the time without leading to anything bigger, and the 3-day mainshock probabilities following the March 30th cluster were less than 1 percent, representing an increase, but still very low.

    NYT > Home Page By ANDREW C. REVKIN 2011

  • The 12 January mainshock and its aftershocks occurred on the Enriquillo Fault that runs east-west bordering the northern edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate.

    Naturejobs - All Jobs Roger Bilham 2010

  • A significant portion of these events is missing in existing earthquake catalogues, mainly because seismicity after the mainshock can be masked by overlapping arrivals of waves from the mainshock and aftershocks

    Naturejobs - All Jobs Zhigang Peng 2009

  • We find that the newly detected aftershocks migrate in both along-strike and down-dip directions with logarithmic time since the mainshock, consistent with numerical simulations of the expansion of aftershocks caused by propagating afterslip

    Naturejobs - All Jobs Zhigang Peng 2009

  • The largest aftershock is an 6.0 occurred 15 minutes after the mainshock You inspired me in 2009!

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • Most of the aftershocks are on the NE part of the mainshock.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • They are smaller than the mainshock and … can continue over a period of weeks, months, or years. "

    NYT > Home Page 2010

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