Earthquake Webquest Name

Environmental Science
Use the following links to find information about recent earthquakes. Answer each question
completely in the space provided.
Part 1: Earthquakes USGS
1. According to the USGS, what is an earthquake?
2. We learned in class that there are two primary points of an earthquake. They are the
epicenter and the focus. What is the hypocenter that is mentioned in the website and where
would it be located?
3. What is an aftershock and how long can they last?
4. What is the difference between a mainshock and an aftershock?
5. What is a seismograph and how are they used to measure earthquakes?
6. What is magnitude?
7. What type of energy wave arrives first from an earthquake?
8. How can scientists use P and S waves to determine where the earthquake occurred?
9. The following diagram shows a depiction of triangulation from seismographs. What do
scientists use
triangulation to determine and how does it work?

Part 2: Earthquake Hazards Program

● Click on “Latest Earthquake” section on the website to answer the following questions.
1. How many total earthquakes are currently shown on the map?
1A. Record the current time.
2. When and where was the strongest, most recent earthquake in the United States?
3. How many earthquakes have been in California on this day?
4. How many earthquakes have been in Hawaii on this day?
5. Look toward the state of Alaska. What is the largest, most recent earthquake in Alaska
today?
6. How many earthquakes have been in Alaska so far today?
7. Zoom out so that you can see the entire map of the earth. You should see a pattern of
earthquakes.
What is this pattern?
Use the following method or any other method to take a screenshot. Then paste it where the
webquest indicates.

8. Take a screenshot of the map and insert it below.

9. Where was the closest earthquake to Barberton, OH? Give some details of direction.
10. Has the amount of earthquakes changed since you started? If so, how many total
earthquakes are
listed now? How much time has passed since you last checked?
Location Time Magnitude
Location of earthquake Time Magnitude How far from Barberton, OH # of earthquakes How
much time has passed?
Part 3: Earthquake Hazards (Click on the “Measuring Earthquakes” link and scroll down to find
the article called “Moment Magnitude”.)
1. When was the Richter scale developed and by who?
2. Which type of measurement gives the most reliable estimate of earthquake size?
3. How is Moment magnitude (Mw) measured? Explain.
4. Click on Earthquake Magnitude, Energy Release, and Shaking Intensity. What is meant by the
term magnitude?
5. Why is an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 considered a moderate earthquake, while a
magnitude 6.3 is a strong earthquake? Explain the reasoning behind this situation.
6. What type of scale is used for larger earthquake measurements and why?
7. An earthquake has a magnitude of 5. Weeks later a magnitude 6 hits the same area. How
much more energy is released in the second earthquake?
8. What does Intensity measure?
9. A magnitude 10 earthquake has yet to occur. What would it take to produce an earthquake
with a Moment magnitude (Mw) of 10? Explain it and take a picture of what it would look like
on the map.
Insert it below.

10. Would it be possible to have a 10.5 Mw earthquake? Explain why or why not.

Part 4: Deadliest Tsunami

The Deadliest Tsunami in History
1. How large was the earthquake that caused the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean?
2. How tall were the largest waves that struck the coastlines around the earthquakes epicenter?
3. What type of plate boundary and what kind of fault caused this tsunami?
4. How fast did scientists say the tsunami’s waves traveled?
5. How far did the tsunami wave travel?
6. How many died during the tsunami and where did they find the people after the wave
receeded?
7. Find three pictures of the area where the tsunami took place. Find one picture that shows
the area before the tsunami and two pictures that show the damage after the tsunami. Insert
them below.

Return to the homepage of the USGS site here.

1. How many earthquakes have happened now?
2. Where was the last earthquake at and what was the magnitude?