aftershock

From after- +‎ shock.

aftershock (countable and uncountable, plural aftershocks)

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

   Synonym: afterquake

   • 2011, Raymond Gordon, The Ecclesiastical Chronicles, Volume Two: The Society, →ISBN, page 278:

     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.

2. (figuratively) By extension, any result or consequence following a major event.
   • 2011, Jeremy Rifkin, The Third Industrial Revolution, →ISBN:

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

   • 2012, Hannah Patterson, The Cinema of Terrence Malick, →ISBN, page 26:

     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.

   • 2014, Lester Parrott, Social work and poverty, →ISBN, page 35:

     On the other hand, in a global economy, many governments are seeking to limit their social costs in order to attract global corporations to invest in their countries, while also grappling with the aftershock of the banking crisis which has seen state financial support to the banking sector amount to L850 billion of guarantees and loans (National Audit Office, 2011).

3. Emotional and physical distress following a traumatic event.
   • 1992, Jerome A. Miller, In the Throe of Wonder, →ISBN, page 129:

     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.

   • 2007, Pattrice Jones, Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World, →ISBN:

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

   • 2013, Anne Hillerman, Spider Woman's Daughter, →ISBN, page 221:

     "I meant, how are you doing with the aftershock?" "Aftershock? I keep thinking there must have been something I could have done."

   • 2013, Kris Schnee, Everyone's Island, →ISBN, page 119:

     He wavered on his feet from adrenaline aftershock, blood loss, and from the fact that he was ruined.

• foreshock