Engaging With Earthquake Hazard and Risk

Students should understand basic plate tectonics and the causes of earthquakes. Familiarity with seismic waves and how they travel through the Earth is also helpful. Activities that will help learners with the background knowledge for seismic waves are Human Wave: Modeling P and S Waves and Seismic Slinky.

Prior to diving deeper into mitigation, use this activity to introduce some of the complexities of shaking intensity. Follow this activity with Geologic Hazard and the Built Environment.

Learners will:

• Recognize that shaking intensity varies with location during the same earthquake event
• Understand that seismic hazard maps are useful planning tools, but they are not predictive of damage to structures during an earthquake
• Generate questions about the factors, in addition to geologic site effects, that may contribute to severity of damage experienced by structures

• Analysis of data
• Formulation of hypotheses
• Synthesis of ideas

• Working in groups
• Speaking and listening

Activity

See attached file for educator notes, NGSS alignment, maps, and a brief lesson plan for a guided oral discussion using the Think-Pair-Share strategy. Also included are links to some resources on the background science of site effects.
Engaging With Earthquake Hazard and Risk Activity (Acrobat (PDF) 5.1MB Feb16 22)

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Provenance: ANGLE Project
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Supporting presentation/audiovisual

• Computer animation of modeled shaking, by Carl Tape, of the M7.1 Iniskin Earthquake, January 24, 2016

• Providing laminated copies of the maps and dry erase markers will make it easier for students to make comparisons between the Seismic Hazard map, and the shaking and/or damage maps.

Using the provided maps, the students will make a claim based on evidence: How does the seismic hazard zone compare to the damage and/or shaking you might experience during an earthquake? Student claims can be assessed orally, or collected in writing. This activity is introductory and assessment of student learning is considered formative in support of more complex subsequent activities.

• Resources referenced in the activity
  • Map A: Alaska Daily News article: That 7.1 quake shook different parts of Anchorage in very different ways, by Charles Wohlforth
  • Map B Can be downloaded from https://www.muni.org/Departments/OCPD/Planning/Planning%20Maps/Anch_Bowl_Seismic_8x11.pdf
  • Map C: Alaska Daily News article New maps and data show widespread Anchorage earthquake damage and more than 100 unsafe buildings, by Devin Kelly and Zaz Hollander
  • Computer animation of modeled shaking, by Carl Tape, of the M7.1 Iniskin- Earthquake, January 24, 2016
  • Pacific Northwest Seismic Network article on Site Effects
  • IRIS Teachable Moment resources about the M7.1 Iniskin-Pedro Bay earthquake (January 24, 2016) and M7.0 Anchorage-Point MacKenzie earthquake (November 30, 2018)
• This activity is part of ANGLE Curricular Pathway 4: Community Resilience.
• Contact ANGLE with questions or comments.