Question

Two identical homes are built on different earth materials. The first home is built on solid, hard metamorphic rock and the second home is built on soft sedimentary materials. Based on this information, which home will suffer more damage during an earthquake. Explain your conclusions and why the damage would be different.

Answer 1

Answer:

a. The second home built on soft sedimentary material will suffer more damage.

b. A large amplitude implies bigger waves and thus more damage than in the solid hard metamorphic rock.

c. The second home built on soft sedimentary material will suffer more damage than the first home is built on solid, hard metamorphic rock because of the rock type.

Explanation:

a. Based on this information, which home will suffer more damage during an earthquake.

The second home built on soft sedimentary material will suffer more damage.

b. Explain your conclusions

This is because earthquakes travel faster in hard material and thus have a smaller amplitude but move slower in soft material but have a large amplitude. A large amplitude implies bigger waves and thus more damage than in the solid hard metamorphic rock.

c. Why the damage would be different.

The damage would be different because waves with large amplitude move through the soft sedimentary rock while waves with smaller amplitude move through the hard metamorphic rock. A large amplitude implies a large wave and thus more damage than a smaller amplitude.

So, the second home built on soft sedimentary material will suffer more damage than the first home is built on solid, hard metamorphic rock because of the rock type.