What Are WORKS CITED
Earthquakes?
Earthquakes are events when the earths tectonic
plates shift, causing the surface to violently
shake and vibrate, causing lots of damage. They
cause billions of dollars in damage and take
thousands of lives, yearly.
What Are Earthquake Monitors
And How Do They Work?
There are many instruments that can measure
earthquakes, but the most common one is the
seismometer (AKA seismogram or the
seismograph). This was by far the most common
instrument for measuring the size, depth, and
exact location of the earthquake, this is
commonly referred to as Seismic monitoring.
With thousands placed around the world, we can
use information from multiple of them to trace
the exact location of the earthquake, also known
as the epicenter. The ones I will be explaining are
known as old fashion Seismometers because
with new technology there are newer ones, being
electronic using electromagnetic waves and
processing them through a computer to create
seismic waves.
Earthquake-measured-/category/Concepts/.
Global earthquake risk map. GEM Foundation. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 7, 2021, from
EARTH
QUAKE
https://www.globalquakemodel.org/gem-
maps/global-earthquake-risk-map.
Naroju, S. (2020, May 12). How do earthquakes affect
human life (7 ways). RiddleLife. Retrieved December
7, 2021, from https://www.riddlelife.com/how-do-
earthquake-affect-human-life/.
MONITORS
Seismometers, seismographs, seismograms - what's
the difference? how do they work? (n.d.). Retrieved
December 7, 2021, from
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/seismometers-
seismographs-seismograms-whats-difference-how-
do-they-work?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-
news_science_products.
Seismometers, seismographs, seismograms - what's
the difference? how do they work? (n.d.). Retrieved
December 7, 2021, from
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/seismometers-
seismographs-seismograms-whats-difference-how-
do-they-work?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-
news_science_products.
Teachoo. (2019, August 1). How is an earthquake
measured? - explained with seismograph. teachoo.
Retrieved December 7, 2021, from
https://www.teachoo.com/10467/3030/How-is-an-
U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Monitoring
seismic activity (U.S. National Park Service). National
Parks Service. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from
https://www.nps.gov/articles/seismic-
monitoring.htm.


WHAT ARE THEIR
IMPACTS ON SOCIETY?
Being able to record every earthquake’s
time, size and location allow us to plot
them onto a map to predict and identify
possible hot spots for earthquakes,
knowing these potentially dangerous spots
changes how certain things are done there.
-For example, in those areas people are
taught at a young age what to do in case of
an earthquake, tips like hiding under tables
save thousands of lives every year.
-Another reason this information is
important is that it changes how we build,
for example in the United States, the
western coast experiences lots of
earthquakes, knowing this, they build
building differently so that during an event
of an earthquake, the building won’t
collapse, saving them millions every year.
This is a map with dots indicating the location
and the magnitude of every earthquake from
1960-2007
WHAT ARE THEIR
IMPACTS ON THE
ENVIRONMENT?
-Although the old fashion ones were very cheap
to make, didnt harm the environment too
much, they were not very efficient. They would
run constantly meaning that during the time
there were no earthquakes, the pen would just
draw a straight line on the paper, wasting the
paper. With the current climate changes
problem, the last thing we need to do is waste
large amounts of paper, thus causing more
trees to be cut.
-Even with the new Seismometers, they may not
waste paper, but the material used to make
them is much more expensive and harmful to
the environment. Since they’re computers, that
means micro boards are needed to create them,
and they are not very environmentally friendly.
Micro boards are produced in large factories in
China which release tons of carbon dioxide,
they are also made of mostly plastic and metal
like gold. The metal on them is too expensive to
recycle and most of the time they’re dumped
into landfills after they're used, wasting metals
and adding to the current plastic waste
problem.
THE PHYISICS BEHIND
THE OLD FASHION
SEISMOMETER
For horizontal Seismometers, some preexisting forces
are the tension force of the string holding the
weighted pen, calculated using Tension Force =
(mass)(gravity), and the kinetic friction force
between the pen and the paper, which is calculated
using Kinetic Friction = kinetic μ (Normal Force).
The whole instrument works like a domino effect of
forces which causes the pen to draw on the paper.
Now for it to start, an unbalanced force such as the
vibration from an earthquake, this causes the pen to
move slightly.
Since the pen is attached to a weight, the force
applied by gravity is increased which can be
calculated also using (mass)x(gravity). When the pen
moves the gravitational force will naturally pull it
back down to its original spot but the weight also
causes inertia.
Since the pen is moving to its original position and
there is not a strong enough force to stop the inertia,
the pen swings in the opposite direction, repeating
the process.
Now with vertical Seismometers, the forces are
almost the same but with one extra force. Due to the
string being replaced with a spring, there is an
elastic, the difference from the first one is that when
the floor suddenly shakes up and down, the inertia of
the weight makes the pen bounce up and down.