English

Noun

planetquake ‎(plural planetquakes)

1. A seismic event occurring on a planet (especially one other than Earth).
   • 1887, John A. Westwood Oliver, "Earthquake Warnings", The Eclectic Magazine, Volume 46, Number 2, August 1887, page 192:

     But why should Jupiter and Saturn exercise such a particular influence on the earth when they attain these longitudes? M. Delauney answers that when in those longitudes the planets encounter meteor swarms, and just as earthquakes are rather numerous in November, when the earth passes through a meteor stream, so they reach a maximum when either of the planets undergoes the same experience. By strict parity of reasoning, it is planetquakes that ought to ensue upon these conditions, not earthquakes; but to a bold theorist like M. Delauney that is a trifle.

   • 1979, Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science, Ballantine (1980), ISBN 9780345336897, page 243:

     There are devices that can determine the distribution of radioactivity over another planet from orbit; that can feel from the surface the faint rumble of a distant planetquake deep below; […]

   • 1990, Carolyn Clowes, The Pandora Principle, Pocket Books (1990), ISBN 9780671658151, page 10:

     Recurrent planetquakes would have made mining too hazardous, which could account for the Romulans' departure, but so could many things on this inhospitable world.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:planetquake.

Hyponyms

• earthquake, marsquake, moonquake, venusquake