Earthquakes Around the World

MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Learning Targets

Students will observe the location of Earthquakes around the world.
Students will develop a model of where earthquakes most commonly happen.

Success Criteria

I can locate and plot earthquakes around the world.
I can predict where earthquakes will happen around the world.

Questions to Ponder

Can scientists predict where and when earthquakes are going to occur?
If they could predict them, how would they go about doing it?

The United States Geological Survey (USGS)

...is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. In this lesson you will be using data from USGS to Plot earthquakes around the world over the course of the unit.

Identifying Earthquakes Around the World

Seismologists use data about the location of earthquakes around the world.

Click on the Map link below. The link will open in a new tab.
On the right side of the screen make sure that Earthquakes is set for "1 Day, All Magnitudes U.S." (when you are done, clicking the gear icon will close that window so you can see the map better.) Make sure "Zoom to..." is set to "World."
Go back to the USGS Earthquake website and look at the list of earthquakes on the left side. Click on the first listed earthquake and locate it on the map (It will highlight in blue.) Notice the Richter and Mercalli (if present) ratings.
Place the circle on your map as close as you can to where the first earthquake is located. This is called plotting the earthquake.
Go back to the Earthquake site and look at the next earthquake on the list. Repeat the previous step. This time, if the magnitude of the earthquake is larger or smaller, make the star larger or smaller accordingly.
Complete this for at least 10 earthquakes. Skip down the list and choose earthquakes that have occurred in different places (for example, do not plot two from Alaska, etc.)
Return to this map once a week until the end of the unit to see where earthquakes are happening around the world.

www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html?cities=1029,179,136,248

Univeral Time

Click here to view a near real-time, interactive map of earthquakes around the world

right click or control click here

After Data Collection...

Return to the Success Criteria at the top of the page. Have you met the S.C.?
Compare your data with another group. How is your data similar or different?
What patterns do you see in the locations of the earthquakes around the world?
- What do you think might be the cause of the patterns that you see?
- What other information would you like to know?
Create a group summary of your data about the location of earthquakes around the world.
- Listen to summaries from other groups. Do you agree/disagree/have questions?

More Data

Go back to the USGS Earthquake website.
Change the earthquakes displayed to 30 Days, Magnitude 2.5+ U.S.
How does the inclusion of more data compare with your summary?
Go back to your summary and add or change anything you might have learned.