Difference between earthquake, aftershock, foreshock and mainshock

By Cristiano Antonino On Mar 31, 2023

An “earthquake” (also called “earthquake” or “earthquake”) is a sudden vibration or settling of the earth’s crust, caused by the unpredictable movement of a rock mass underground

This displacement is generated by tectonic forces which act constantly within the earth’s crust causing the release of energy in an internal area of the earth called the hypocenter, typically located above pre-existing fractures in the crust called faults; starting from the fracture created a series of elastic waves, called “seismic waves”, propagates in all directions from the hypocenter, giving life to the phenomenon observed on the surface.

The place on the earth’s surface located vertically above the hypocenter is called the “epicenter” and is generally the one most affected by the phenomenon.

According to some researchers it would be possible to predict the arrival of an earthquake in advance but most scientists are of the opposite idea.

Earthquake, aftershock, foreshock and mainshock

An earthquake almost never occurs as a single event, but is sometimes anticipated by milder shocks and very often, after it, there is a series of aftershocks of generally lower intensity than the main seismic event (i.e. the one with the highest Force).

The term “aftershock” is the Anglo-Saxon way to define the aftershock that occurs immediately after the main seismic event, while “foreshock” is the Anglo-Saxon word to define the aftershocks that anticipate the main seismic event.

The term “mainshock” instead indicates the main seismic event, i.e. the most violent and which generally causes the highest number of damages and victims.

If an aftershock is larger than the mainshock, the aftershock is renamed a ‘mainshock’ and the original aftershock is renamed a ‘foreshock’.

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