地震
じしん · jishin · JLPT N4 · noun
earthquake
🌏 地震 = ground (地) + shake (震)
地 is ground or earth, read ji here; 震 means to shake or tremble, read shin. Together: the ground shaking. Sound hook: jishin sounds like the word for self-confidence (自信), and a quake shakes your jishin.
地 — earth 土 + 也 (phonetic)
地 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left component 土 means 'earth' or 'soil' and gives the meaning, while 也 on the right hints at the pronunciation. Originally referring to the ground or land, it broadened to mean 'place,' 'region,' and 'territory.'
震 — rain radical 雨 + chen 辰 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 雨 'rain' gives the meaning (weather/sky phenomena), while 辰 supplies the sound. Originally referred to thunder and the shaking it causes, then extended to mean 'shake, quake, tremble' as in earthquakes (地震).