Initial Publication Date: June 22, 2010
Week 7: Investigating Earthquake Activity
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Using My World to Analyze Earthquake Patterns
Key Investigation Questions
Introduction
Key Investigation Questions
Introduction
Launch My World and Open the Earthquakes Project
Examine a Year's Worth of Earthquake Data
Examine the Distribution of Past Significant and Big Earthquakes
Compare Earthquake Distributions
Where are the Big Earthquakes Mostly Likely to Occur in the Future?
- Select convergent plate boundaries
- Select earthquakes from the sig_big layer that are within a specified distance
- Show the results of the spatial query
Using My World to Analyze Earthquake Patterns
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Key Investigation Questions:
- How are earthquakes distributed?
- Where do really big earthquakes occur?
- How do recent quakes compare with the historical record?
Introduction
Earthquake Patterns
Earth is a dynamic planet. Its crust is continuously forming and deforming, constantly pushed and pulled as it moves. When strain that has built up over time is suddenly released, the crust shakes, and we call this movement an earthquake. Depending upon their strength and where they strike, earthquakes can inflict severe property damage and claim thousands of lives.
Launch My World and Open the Earthquakes Project
- Launch My World by double-clicking its icon on your desktop or by clicking its icon in the Dock (Mac) or Launch Bar (Win).
- Choose File > Open Project, navigate to Applications/My World/data/EarthquakeMW, select the E_QuakesMW.m3vz file, and click Open.
- A global map will open with the Continents, U.S. States, and Lines of Longitude and Latitude on the map.
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Examine a Year's Worth of Earthquake Data
Add earthquake data from 2009
- Click the Add Layer from File
button. The Import Data File window opens. - Navigate to the csv_files folder within the EarthquakesMW folder. In that folder, select the 2009EQ.shp file that was created the last time you added this data as Import Text Data. Then click OK.
- Click on the 2009EQ label in the Layer List. Then select Table of Layer.
- Look at the upper left corner of the Table of Layer to find out how many earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater occurred in the past year. (Remember that this data set has only earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater.)
- In Visualize mode click the Add Layer from File
button. The Import Data File window opens. Navigate to the EarthquakesMW folder. In that folder, select the 2009EQ.shp file that was created the last time you added this data as Import Text Data. Then click OK.
- Click on the 2009EQ label in the Layer List. Then select Table of Layer.
- Look at the upper right corner of the Table of Layer 2009EQ to find out how many earthquakes of a magnitude 4.0 or greater occurred in 2009.
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