foreshock
foreshock — noun
1. A small earthquake that happens before a larger, more powerful one, often servin
A small earthquake that happens before a larger, more powerful one, often serving as an early sign of the bigger quake to come.
A foreshock shook the town early in the morning, hours before the major earthquake struck.
temporal sequence: foreshock → major earthquake
The foreshock woke Harper at dawn, but the main earthquake an hour later caused far more damage.
contrast: minor foreshock vs stronger main quake
The foreshock caused small cracks in the old church, and the main earthquake destroyed it completely.
The foreshock gave Salma's family enough warning to run outside before the stronger earthquake hit.
- tremor
more general term for any slight shaking of the ground, not necessarily before a larger quake
- precursor earthquake
more technical, emphasises the predictive aspect; less common in news reports
- pre-shock
informal abbreviation sometimes used in headlines or casual speech
- aftershock
a smaller earthquake that happens after, not before, the main quake
用法筆記
Primarily used in seismology and news reports about earthquakes, rather than in everyday conversation, where 'small earthquake' or 'tremor' is more common.