aftershock
noun
af·ter·shock
| \ -ˌshäk
\
\
Definition of aftershock
1
: an aftereffect of a distressing or traumatic event
2
: a minor shock following the main shock of an earthquake
Examples of aftershock in a Sentence
The first aftershock came just minutes after the earthquake.
Recent Examples on the Web
The region was hit with a massive foreshock and earthquake over Fourth of July week, leaving both towns to pick up the pieces amid thousands of disquieting aftershocks. — David Wharton, Los Angeles Times, "Trona High football team gets a helping hand, and a marching band, from rival Ridgecrest," 9 Sep. 2019 This week saw some aftershocks from recent revelations about a large-scale iOS hacking campaign. — Wired, "Security News This Week: An Unprecedented Cyberattack Hit US Power Utilities," 7 Sep. 2019 Seismologists say Anchorage could feel aftershocks for another for months to come, but less frequently than in the weeks after the main quake. — Anchorage Daily News, "Magnitude 4.1 aftershock shakes Anchorage just before midnight," 28 Aug. 2019 The paper looks at the smaller quakes, which generally precede larger ones known as foreshocks (as opposed to the more commonly known aftershocks). — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "It's Really Hard to Predict an Earthquake, but Scientists Are Getting Closer," 14 Aug. 2019 More than 2,000 residents of Itbayat — nearly all of the island’s population of mostly fishermen — were advised not to return to their homes and stay in the town plaza as successive aftershocks shook the region, Esdicul said. — Washington Post, "8 dead, 60 hurt as quakes shake northern Philippine isles," 27 July 2019 More than 2,000 residents of Itbayat — nearly all of the island’s population of mostly fishermen — were advised not to return to their homes and stay in the town plaza as successive aftershocks shook the region, Esdicul said. — Jim Gomez, BostonGlobe.com, "8 dead, 60 hurt as quakes shake northern Philippine isles," 27 July 2019 Friday’s aftershock is unlikely to be a precursor to a large new main shock in or around Ridgecrest. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "4.9 earthquake in Ridgecrest lightly felt in San Diego County," 12 July 2019 Dozens of aftershocks continued into the night after Friday's quake as well. — Fox News, "Massive California earthquakes could be seen from space," 9 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aftershock.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for aftershock
aftershock
noun
English Language Learners Definition of aftershock
: a smaller earthquake that occurs after a larger one
See the full definition for aftershock in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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