earthquake

noun

earth·quake | \ ˈərth-ˌkwāk

Definition of earthquake

1 : a shaking or trembling of the earth that is volcanic or tectonic in origin

2 : upheaval sense 2

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about earthquake

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Synonyms for earthquake

Synonyms

quake, shake, temblor, tremor

Examples of earthquake in a Sentence

a building destroyed by earthquake the San Andreas Fault is notorious for its earthquakes

Recent Examples on the Web

Plus, the city has reliable electricity and isn’t at risk for the hurricanes or earthquakes that threaten the coasts. — Ally Marotti, chicagotribune.com, "Illinois might be more attractive for data centers with potential new tax incentive," 4 June 2019 Other earthquakes have reached as low as 0.8 magnitude. — Don Sweeney, sacbee, "Quake swarm unleashes 400 tiny temblors on Southern California. What does it mean?," 4 June 2019 Labrada knows that these are important traits for urban search-and-rescue dogs, who help find people trapped in rubble after disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes. — Washington Post, "Real, furry superheroes get their own movie," 4 June 2019 The website also claims these homes are earthquake resistant, and that parts of the house can act like flotation devices in an emergency. — Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "The Homes in This Village Are Made Using Old Plastic Bottles," 28 May 2019 Natural disasters such as a storms, wildfires, floods and earthquakes have for years reflexively triggered immediate funding relief efforts. — WSJ, "Preparing for Disasters Saves Costly Cleanups," 27 May 2019 Advertising The researchers said the inland tsunami points to a massive earthquake generated by the asteroid crash, somewhere between a magnitude 10 and 11. — Seth Borenstein, The Seattle Times, "Snapshot of extinction: Fossils show day of killer asteroid," 3 Apr. 2019 According to Babble, the scene was filmed while a minor earthquake was going on. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "Every Weird Thing You Never Realized About National Lampoon's 'Christmas Vacation'," 2 Dec. 2018 However, that video was delayed in light of a major earthquake that hit Japan this week. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Nintendo’s promised cloud saves on Switch won’t work for every game [Updated]," 7 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'earthquake.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.