Storms and Quakes: 10 Weather and Earth Science Questions

Test your understanding of thunder, lightning myths, earthquake scales, and storm alerts.

Choose one answer per question. There’s no timer. You can skip a question; unanswered questions count as incorrect.

QUESTION 01What directly produces the sound we call thunder?

Two clouds collidingRapid air expansion from lightningRain striking mountainsThe Moon pulling clouds

QUESTION 02The air in a lightning channel can briefly reach approximately which temperature?

50 degrees Fahrenheit500 degrees Fahrenheit5,000 degrees Fahrenheit50,000 degrees Fahrenheit

QUESTION 03About how many seconds does thunder take to travel one mile?

One secondFive secondsThirty secondsTwo minutes

QUESTION 04What does the phrase heat lightning usually describe?

Lightning caused by hot sidewalksA different form of electrical dischargeDistant ordinary lightning whose thunder is not heardAn aurora over the desert

QUESTION 05In a hard-topped metal car, what provides the main lightning protection?

Rubber tiresMetal roof and surrounding frameAir conditioningSeat upholstery

QUESTION 06What does a tornado watch primarily mean?

A tornado has definitely touched downConditions are favorable for tornadoesAll travel is immediately bannedNo severe storms are expected

QUESTION 07Which type of waterspout is directly associated with tornado-like thunderstorms?

Tornadic waterspoutFair-weather waterspoutSea breezeDust devil

QUESTION 08One whole-number increase in earthquake magnitude corresponds to roughly how much greater waveform amplitude?

TwiceFive timesTen timesOne hundred times

QUESTION 09One whole-number increase in earthquake magnitude corresponds to roughly how much more energy?

Two timesTen timesThirty-two timesOne thousand times

QUESTION 10What is the point underground where an earthquake rupture begins called?

EpicenterHypocenterTropopauseMagnetopause

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