aftershock

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep(o)teros Proto-Germanic *after Old English æfter Middle English after English after ▲ Old English æfter Old English æfter- Middle English after- English after- English shock English aftershock From after- + shock.

1. An earthquake that follows in the same vicinity as another, usually larger, earthquake (the "mainshock").

   “It was not a peace that brought joy – it was one that created an oppressive tension like the calm between a major earthquake and the aftershock.”

   “As aftershocks of 3.0 magnitude or higher continued to rock the area, rescuers transported over 50,000 people from the hardest-hit Luding county, according to local media”

2. By extension, any result or consequence following a major event.

   “The collapse of the financial market sixty days later was the aftershock.”

   “Set in the 1950s, Badlands looks back to that period of malaise in American culture which was defined by the aftershock of world war, the fears engendered by the Cold War, and the questioning of both cultural and individual identity.”

3. Emotional and physical distress following a traumatic event.

   “Far from being an emotional aftershock following an event that upsets our whole world, horror is what first discloses to us the upsetting possibility that our world as a whole can cease to be.”

   “Aftershock is my own term for post-traumatic reactions experienced by activists.”