A native compound of 'earth' + 'quake' (to tremble) — replacing the earlier Old English 'eorthbeofung' (earth-trembling).
A sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action.
A compound of 'earth' + 'quake.' 'Earth' comes from Old English 'eorþe' (ground, soil, world), from Proto-Germanic '*erþō,' from PIE *h₁er- (earth, ground). 'Quake' comes from Old English 'cwacian' (to tremble, to shake), from Proto-Germanic '*kwakōną,' of uncertain further origin. The compound 'earthquake' replaced the earlier Old English term 'eorðbeofung' (earth-trembling), where 'beofung' meant 'trembling' — a word that did not survive into Modern English. Key roots: *h₁er- (Proto-Indo-European: "earth, ground"), *kwakōną (Proto-Germanic: "to shake, tremble").
The Germanic languages all built their word for earthquake from 'earth' + 'shaking,' but each picked a different verb for the shaking. English chose 'quake' (to tremble). German chose 'beben' (to quake). Dutch chose 'beving' (a shaking). Swedish chose 'bävning' (a trembling). Old English originally used 'eorðbeofung' (earth-trembling) — using the same verb as German — but replaced it with 'earthquake' in the 14th century. The Quakers got their name because their founder George Fox reportedly told a judge to 'tremble at the word of the Lord