foreshock

English

Etymology

From fore- +‎ shock.

Noun

foreshock (plural foreshocks)

1. (geology) A small earth tremor which precedes the mainshock in an earthquake sequence. Not all mainshocks have foreshocks.
2. Any shock or disturbance that precedes an event
   • 1991, D. Roderick Kiewiet, Mathew D. McCubbins, The Logic of Delegation - Page 88:

     The FY 1981 increases in defense — something of a "foreshock" to the rapid rise in defense spending over the next several years — were prompted by the fall of the Shah in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Antonyms

• aftershock

Translations

tremor preceding the mainshock in earthquake

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前震 (zh) (qiánzhèn)

• Finnish: esijäristys
• Greek: προσεισμός (el) m (proseismós)
• Hungarian: előrengés
• Irish: réamhchrith m
• Japanese: 前震 (ja) (ぜんしん, zenshin)
• Spanish: sismo inicial, sismo premonitor

Anagrams

• forehocks