Familiarize yourself with these terms that will help you identify earthquake risks:

1.    Earthquake A sudden movement or earth crust displacement, accompanied and followed by a series of vibrations.
Secondary movement An earthquake with similar or less intensity following the main earthquake
2.    Fail Fracture where displacement occurs during an earthquake. The displacement may vary from less than an inch and more than 10 yards in a strong earthquake.
3.    Epicenter Place in the Earth surface directly above the fail where the earthquake was initiated. Once the landslide begins, it extends along the fail during the earthquake and may cover hundreds of miles before stopping.
4.    Seismic waves Vibrations traveling outwards from the earthquake fail to velocities of several miles per second. Although landslides in the fail directly beneath a structure may cause extensive damage, seismic wave vibrations cause the most damage during earthquakes.
5.    Magnitude Amount of energy released during an earthquake, which is calculated from the amplitude of the seismic waves. A 7.0 magnitude in the Richter scale indicates an extremely strong earthquake. Each whole number in the scale represents an increase of approximately 30 times more energy released than the previous number. Therefore, a 6.0 earthquake is approximately 30 more potent than a 5.0.