superquake

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From super- +‎ quake.

Noun

superquake (plural superquakes)

  1. (seismology, geology, rare) An extremely destructive, large-scale quake, often an earthquake of such magnitude; megaseism; megaquake
    • 1978, Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics, Volumes 11-12, A. Ross Eckler, page 104:
      In January 1973, Newsweek magazine reported an earthquake somewhere in the world , and added: "It was not a superquake as earth tremors go."
    • 1984, Guidebook for the San Andreas Fault, Cajon Pass to Wrightwood, Volume 55, Pacific Section, American Association of Petroleum Geologist, page 9:
      Others have suggested that, since this creeping section separates the two segments that have produced great earthquakes, that it is unlikely a "superquake" that ruptured all three sections could occur at one time.
    • 2015 May 6, Astrid Tomczak-Plewka, “Supercycles in subduction zones”, in phys.org:
      This "superquake" may have been the largest in a series of earthquakes, thus marking the end of what's known as a supercycle: a sequence of several large earthquakes.