Exploring Rates of Earthquake Occurrence
This activity allows the students to select a global region of interest and to interrogate the earthquake catalog to obtain quantitative data on the rate of occurrence of earthquakes of various magnitudes within their chosen region. Products lead to discussions of earthquake prediction and forcasting.
Resource 3 Related Resources Software-Web-Apps Fact-Sheets Posters Exploring Rates of Earthquake Occurrence 1h 30min Novice Resource Files Slide Presentation Graph Student Handout Instructor's Guide Download All 2MB Optional Files 1 Example Analysis In this activity students explore the rate of earthquake occurrence for areas of Earth they choose to explore. Data is accessed through the simple interface of the IRIS Earthquake Browser (See Related Resources above). After compiling their data for various sized earthquakes, students calculate reoccurrence intervals for each magnitude and plot the data on a semi-log graph for interpretation. Discussions of the collected data touches on strengths and limitations of their data set, possible societal implications (e.g. building codes etc), as well as concepts related to earthquake prediction and forecasting. Objectives: Students will be able to: Describe general patterns of global earthquake occurance (e.g. ring of fire) Use the IRIS Earthquake Browser to generate a graph showing the frequencey of various sized earthqaukes for a region or the entire world Explain how regional tectonics affect the size and frequency of earthquakes Assess the strengths and weaknesses of an argument for using historic earthquake occurrence to “predict” future occurrences Related Software-Web-Apps IRIS Earthquake Browser The IRIS Earthquake Browser (IEB) is an interactive tool for exploring millions of seismic event epicenters (normally earthquakes) on a map of the world. Selections of up to 5000 events can also be viewed in 3D and freely rotated with the 3D Viewer companion tool. Software-Web-App Novice Related Fact-Sheets How Often Do Earthquakes Occur? Earth is an active place and earthquakes are always happening somewhere. In fact, the National Earthquake Information Center locates about 12,000-14,000 earthquakes each year! This fact sheet illustrates information on the frequency of earthquakes of various magnitudes, along with details on the effects of earthquakes and the equivalent energy release. NOTE: Out of stock; self-printing only. Fact-Sheet Novice Related Posters A Century of Earthquakes This poster outlines the lessons learned from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and discusses 100 years of large earthquakes, including the Sumatra earthquake that caused a devastating tsunami. Poster Advanced