Name(s): _______________________________________________ Period: _____ Date:
__________
What is at fault? Earthquake research activity!
In this activity, you and a partner are going to explore a real, live database of earthquake
occurrences in an attempt to discover where and why they happen. This is going to be
powered by the online seismic monitor (http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/index.phtml) provided by
IRIS, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology.
Throughout this activity, you will explore where on certain continents earthquake occur,
drawing the largest which have occurred over the last 2 weeks, as well as tracing historical
data from the last 5 years. You will explore earthquakes from these eleven regions around the
world:
AFRICA, AUSTRALIA NZ, CENTRAL AMERICA, CENTRAL ASIA, EUROPE, INDIAN
OCEAN, NORTH AMERICA, NORTH ATLANTIC, NORTH PACIFIC, SOUTH AMERICA, and
SOUTH PACIFIC.
With each map, you will first explore the data to try and get a feel for earthquakes in that
region. Then, you will mark earthquakes from the last two weeks in RED or YELLOW, and
earthquakes from the last five years in PURPLE or BLUE.
At the end, we’re going to do one last thing with our visual data. So after you complete your
exploration of the eleven regions, make sure to read the instructions!
Part 1: COLLECTING VISUAL DATA:
Part 1 begins on the next page. At this point, make sure you open the IRIS website.
AFRICA:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in Africa?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in Africa.”
Sort by magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in
the last 30 days. Is it the same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
AUSTRALIA NZ (New Zealand):
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in Australia NZ.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
CENTRAL AMERICA:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in Central America.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
CENTRAL ASIA:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in Central Asia.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
EUROPE:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in Europe.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
INDIAN OCEAN:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in Indian Ocean.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
NORTH AMERICA:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in North America.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
NORTH ATLANTIC:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in North Atlantic.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
NORTH PACIFIC:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in North Pacific.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
SOUTH AMERICA:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in South America.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
SOUTH PACIFIC:
1. Is there significant seismic activity in this region?
2. Using the map, try to find the strongest earthquake here in the past 2 weeks. (That’s the
earthquake with the largest ring.)
How strong was it?
Where was it? Give a location and use the grid to guess its coordinates.
3. Next, click the button on the bottom of the screen, “Last 30 days in South Pacific.” Sort by
magnitude and check to see what the strongest earthquake was in the last 30 days. Is it the
same as yours? If not, what was its magnitude?
Using a RED or YELLOW colored pencil, try to mark all of the earthquakes which you notice
from the last two weeks.
Using a PURPLE or BLUE colored pencil, try to trace the lines of dots you see of earthquakes
from the last 5 years.
Name(s): _______________________________________________ Period: _____ Date:
__________
Part 2: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER:
Lastly, we are going to try to bring everything together. As you probably know, earthquakes
occur along the boundaries of our tectonic plates. Now, do your best to transfer your visual
earthquake data to this world map. See if any lines seem to naturally connect. With luck, you’ll
be able to construct most of our plate boundaries!