'earthquake' originates from English, specifically the compound of 'earth' and 'quake', where 'earth' meant 'ground/soil' and 'quake' meant 'to shake'.

'quake' derives from Old English 'cwacian' meaning 'to tremble'; the combination with 'earth' produced Middle English forms such as 'erthequake' and eventually the modern English 'earthquake'.

Initially, it referred specifically to the physical shaking of the ground; over time it has also been used metaphorically to describe major upheavals or dramatic changes.