Noun: earthquake 'urth,kweyk
- Shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane or from volcanic activity
"The earthquake was felt hundreds of miles from its epicentre";
- quake, temblor, seism
- A disturbance that is extremely disruptive
"selling the company caused an earthquake among the employees"
Derived forms: earthquakes
Type of: carry-on [Brit, informal], commotion, disruption, disturbance, flutter, geological phenomenon, hoo-ha [informal], hoo-hah [informal], hurly burly, kerfuffle [Brit, informal], song and dance [Brit, informal], to-do [informal]
Encyclopedia: Earthquake