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Glossary of earthquake terms
The Landers fault (red lines at left) and the Hector Mine fault
and its aftershocks (red lines and circles at right). The Hector
Mine earthquake was a magnitude 7.1, and it produced thousands
of aftershocks. (Image courtesy of Egill Hauksson, Caltech)
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Mainshock
The mainshock
is the largest earthquake in a sequence, sometimes preceded
by one or more foreshocks,
and almost always followed by many aftershocks.
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