Earthquakes in 3 Hours

Dr. Don Stierman, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences

June, 2009

 

Objectives: Students will learn fundamental facts about earthquake seismology and earn their certificates as entry-level Virtual Seismologists.

 

Basic questions:

 

  1. What is an earthquake?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y-62Ti5_6s

 

  1. What do earthquakes do to people?

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?eq_1=5&t=101634&s=0&d=2&d=22

 

  1. Where does an earthquake’s energy come from?

http://projects.crustal.ucsb.edu/understanding/elastic/rebound.html

 

Web exploration: maps, animations and exercises.

 

  1. Where are earthquakes most likely to occur?  How about yesterday's earthquakes?

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/seismicity/index.php

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

 

  1. Waves move through rocks – that is what we feel when the earth shakes.  What kinds of waves move through rocks?

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1002/es1002page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/animations/index.html

 

  1. How do we measure earthquakes?  Seismographs and seismograms.

 

    1. Where and when did the earthquake happen?  http://www.geo.mtu.edu/UPSeis/locating.html
    2. How big was the earthquake? http://www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/100/magnitude.html

 

  1. Virtual Seismologist http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/Earthquake/

Real seismograms!

Pacific Northwest: http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/PNSN/welcome.html

Redoubt Volcano: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php

Global view: Live Internet Seismic Server http://www.liss.org/