ACTIVITY: MUSICAL PLATES
Worksheet #1
1.
Click on one of the websites listed below to see all the earthquakes that have
occurred over the last couple of weeks that were larger than 2.5 on the Richter
scale. Note that in the first 2 columns you ill see the time and date for each
earthquake. Note that in the second 2 columns you will see the latitude and
longitude coordinates for the epicenter of the earthquake.
 TEXT – BASED
o USGS Earthquake Bulletin
 http://earthquakes.usgs/gov/recenteqsww
Note: Magnitude greater than 2.5 from around the world
o IRIS List of earthquakes in last 30 days
 http://www.iris.edu/seismon/last30days.phtml
Note: a latitude of “+” corresponds to degrees North and a
latitude of “–“corresponds to degrees South
 INTERACTIVE MAPS
o USGS
o Recent earthquakes with tectonic plate boundaries (last 7 days)
o Recent earthquakes
o IRIS Seismic monitor
 http://nerc.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin
2.
Use the latitude and longitude coordinates to plot on your world map which
represents the epicenter of the earthquake.
Note: You can use the links that appear in the last column of the table to assist
you in finding the locations of the earthquakes if using the latitude and
longitude coordinates is too difficult.
3.
Do this for a period of at least 2 weeks.
Worksheet #2
1.
At the end of the two-week period, study the map that you have produced
displaying the recent earthquake events. Answer the following questions:
a) Do the earthquakes appear to occur all over the earth’s surface or only in isolated
regions?
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b) Is there a recognizable pattern to where earthquakes seem to occur?
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c) If such a pattern does exist, could you use it to determine where high risk
earthquake zones are located?
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d) Name at least 3 high risk zones.
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2.
Now compare your world map from Activity which has the earthquakes
plotted on it to the tectonic plate map. Answer the following questions:
a)
Do you see any relationship between the map you created and the map above
showing tectonic plates? Is there a relationship between them?Explain.
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b)
What do you think is happening in the places where two plates are touching
each other?
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c)
When two plates rub against each other what might the results be?