Meaning of 地震
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- earthquake
How to use 地震
地震 is mostly used as a noun for an earthquake, and you often hear it with the verb 发生 (fāshēng, to happen). It can also work as a verb meaning the earth shakes. Example: 昨天晚上发生了地震。(Zuótiān wǎnshang fāshēng le dìzhèn.) An earthquake happened last night.
地 (dì) means ground or earth, and 震 (zhèn) means to shake. Put them together and you get the ground shaking, which is an earthquake.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 震 (zhèn) with 振 (zhèn, to rouse), which sounds the same but has the hand radical 扌 instead of the rain top 雨. For an earthquake, always use 震 with 雨 on top.
地震 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
地 de · -ly · 6 strokes
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震 zhèn · to shake · 15 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 地震.
| 地方 | dìfang | region; regional (away from the central administration) |
| 地上 | dìshang | on the ground; on the floor |
| 地点 | dìdiǎn | place; site |
| 地图 | dìtú | map |
| 地球 | dìqiú | the earth |
| 地铁 | dìtiě | underground railway; subway; subway train |
| 草地 | cǎodì | lawn; meadow |
| 外地 | wàidì | parts of the country other than where one is |
| 地铁站 | dìtiězhàn | subway station |
| 地区 | dìqū | region; area (informal or geographical term); prefecture (in China's administrative system |
| 当地 | dāngdì | local |
| 各地 | gèdì | in all parts of (a country); various regions |
Questions about 地震
What does 地震 mean?
地震 (dìzhèn) means "earthquake" and is used as a noun and verb.
How do you write 地震?
地震 is made of 2 characters: 地 (6 strokes), 震 (15 strokes). That is 21 strokes in total.
Is 地震 an HSK word?
Yes. 地震 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say there was a big earthquake in Chinese?
You can say 发生了大地震 (fāshēng le dà dìzhèn) or 发生了强烈地震 (fāshēng le qiángliè dìzhèn). The measure word is 场 (cháng) or 次 (cì), as in 一次地震 (yí cì dìzhèn).
Can 震 be used in other words besides earthquake?
Yes. 震 means to shake or shock, so it appears in words like 震动 (zhèndòng, to vibrate) and 震惊 (zhènjīng, to be shocked). 余震 (yúzhèn) means an aftershock.