All terms in this list:

seismology: The study of earthquakes.

deformation: The bending, tilting, and breaking of the Earth's crust; the change in the shape of rock in response to stress.

elastic rebound: The sudden return of elastically deformed rock to its undeformed shape.

P Waves: A seismic wave that causes particles of rock to move in a back-and-forth direction.

S Waves: A seismic wave that causes particles of rock to move in a side-to-side direction.

Seismic Waves: Waves of energy that travels through the Earth, away from an earthquake in all directions.

Seismograph: An instrument that records vibrations in the ground and determines the location and strength of an earthquake.

Seismogram: A tracing of earthquake motion that is created by a seismograph.

Epicenter: The point on Earth's surface directly above an earthquake's starting point, or focus.

Focus: The point along a fault at which the first motion of an earthquake occurs.