Asked by mike

Which of the following cause-and-effect statements is FALSE?

An underwater earthquake can trigger a tsunami.

A severe hurricane can spin off smaller tornadoes when it hits land.

A hurricane over the ocean can trigger a massive earthquake

A volcano can trigger a hot mudslide (lahar).

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
"A hurricane over the ocean can trigger a massive earthquake" is FALSE.

Reason: earthquakes are caused by changes in stress on faults in the Earth’s crust (typically MPa-scale stresses, often at depth). The pressure and loading changes from a hurricane (air pressure drop, wind, waves, storm surge) are far too small and shallow to trigger a large earthquake. Hurricanes can produce seismic noise and very occasional minor, localized triggering, but there is no mechanism by which they cause massive earthquakes.