aftershockn.
/ˈɑːftəʃɒk/, /ˈaftəʃɒk/, U.S. /ˈæftərˌʃɑk/ 1. A less powerful shock, often one of a series, occurring after the main shock of an earthquake.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > convulsion > [noun] > earthquake > shock > lesser shock
aftershock1755
fore-shock1902
1755 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 563/1 As these after-shocks were short in comparison to the first, I am in hopes the worst is over.
1868 Mrs. H. L. Evans Last Winter in Algeria iv. 59 In other places the after-shocks were more frequent, some forty or fifty having been counted.
1894 Seismol. Jrnl. Japan 3 72 All the after-shocks have been weaker than the respective initial earthquakes.
1946 Nature 30 Nov. 784/2 The first, at 22 hr. 26·3 min. G.M.T., was an aftershock of the destructive Dominican Republic earthquake of August 4 off Samana Peninsula.
2006 S. E. Hough & R. G. Bilham After Earth Quakes vi. 111 Faults returned to their usual state of slumber, producing only a modest smattering of aftershocks in subsequent years.
2. A second or further shock; the (ongoing) effect of a shock, trauma, or upheaval; a repercussion.Sometimes with reference to an event or experience likened to an earthquake; cf. earthquake n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > [noun] > cause of surprise > subsequent
afterclapc1330
backblowa1649
aftershock1848
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. xvii. 315 The afternoon, and the parting with Will, had weakened her nerves for any after-shock.
1885 Shakespeariana 2 118 We have not the sensible proof that the image reflected there is vain; we experience the after-shock of the feeling which it inspires.
1931 Times 20 May 14/5 The after-shock of the War is in great part responsible for our present situation.
1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends iii. iv. 298 Pearl Harbor's aftershock still rumbled beneath everything.
1991 Atlantic Sept. 119/1 What explains the seismic shift in American political and cultural values which shook this country in the 1960s and whose aftershocks unsettle us still?
2005 J. M. Coetzee Slow Man xxvi. 210 Is the present outpouring just another bout of lability, the aftershock of the latest accident.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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