earthquake
/ˈəːθkweɪk
/noun
1A sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth’s crust or volcanic action.When it came to measuring these big earthquakes, the Richter scale fell short....
- Nine on the Richter scale indicates an earthquake of absolutely awesome destructive power.
- This is one of the most destructive earthquakes of the twentieth century.
Synonyms
earth tremor, tremor, convulsion, shock, foreshock, aftershock
informal quake, shake, trembler
technical microseism
1.1A great upheaval: a political earthquake...
- As a political earthquake, the end of the Empire measured right at the top of the Richter scale.
- Zambians rejected all those political earthquakes by the scruff of the neck.
- They would need to be at least six points ahead of the rest to do that, and that would take a political earthquake.