HW_15 Second Warning KC

EES 0836 15 ... 14 … 13 ..……………… Earthquake ! Disasters: Geology vs. Hollywood Introduction In this week's reaction video, Jonathan Nyquist, PhD, watched a clip from the 2015 movie “ San Andreas ” where he spoke about predicting earthquakes and why it wouldn’t be possible in the Hoover Dam. For the most part, short-term predictions have eluded us. But keeping the public safe is a goal for government officials. At the moment,the best we can do is to use early alert systems such as the one used in Japan. The alert system that J apan has instituted is based on the fact that P-waves arrive and are recorded by seismographs before the more damaging S-waves and surface waves arrive. Once the waves are recorded, the system sends out an alert to people in the area. While it’s a useful system, your distance from the epicenter affects your personal response time . Learning Objectives ● Evaluate how different types of waves can propagate through different materials. (1, 4, 5, c, d) ● Analyze how people’s perception of shaking leads to the generation of shake maps. (1, 4, c, d) Part 1: What could you do in 15 seconds ? To answer this question, we are going to conduct a class experiment. Your phone will play the role of the Japanese warning device. Exchange your number with someone in this class, or if you are uncomfortable with that, solicit the help of another friend or family member. The caller is to send you a text message at a time of their choosing, informing you that you have 15 seconds before a major earthquake will strike. If your phone was off at the time, simply take it from the moment you actually receive the message . Questions : 1. When (day and time) did you receive the warning? Tuesday October 24th at 11:43 2. What were you doing at the time? Doing work for my internship in Charles Library 3. What course of action did you take, or would you have taken, if this had been a real emergency? Describe this in detail. I was on the fourth floor, so the quickest action to safety would have been to evacuate the building immediately and get to the ground. 4. Do you think the warning would have improved your prospects in a real earthquake? Why or why not? Realistically, there is no chance that in 15 seconds I would be able to run down the stairs and outside of the building before the earthquake was going to start, but it would give me a head start were the building not to collapse immediately.