Earthquakes Worksheet(1)

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1301

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Geology

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Dec 6, 2023

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Earthquakes Worksheet Week 9 Online Earth Science Instructions: Located within the Earthquakes Lab folder, there is a link to the USGS Natural Hazards website. Once you open that webpage, you’ll see the button labeled “Interactive Map”. Click on it and it will open up a map of the latest earthquakes in North America and the world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may answer these questions by typing into the lines of this document (after each question) or you may submit your answers in a separate MS Word document via email attachment. Please note: Anytime you wish to return to the default view of the U.S., click on the “world” icon located below the two zoom ( + and – ) buttons and choose “U.S.” Question 1: When you first open the interactive map, the newest earthquakes will be generated on the left side of the page along with their magnitudes. What is the largest magnitude earthquake that is visible on your opening page and where is it located? Note: you may get additional information by clicking on the earthquake of your choice on the lef . The largest magnitude earthquake is in Gansu, China and the magnitude is 5.4. Question 2: If you zoom out twice, you will see a more full view of the world. There appear to be red lines that are drawn on the map in certain regions. What do these red lines represent? (Hint: you should know this from previous labs and also from lecture notes. The red lines represent plate boundaries.
Question 3: At the top right corner of the interactive screen, there is a white “wheel” icon. When you click on it, it reveals an earthquakes menu. If you choose “30 days, significant worldwide” first and then click on the buttons directly below it (one at a time), you will notice changes in the number of dots that appear on the map. Explain the correlation between these buttons and the number of dots that are displayed. The correlation between these buttons and the number of dots displayed is as the circles increase the magnitude of earthquake decreases. Question 4: Also at the top right corner of the map, there is an icon located on the map that looks like sheets of paper that are stacked up. If you click on this, your view of the map can change. Choose “Ocean” and then zoom in on the center of the Pacific Ocean that has a cluster of earthquakes. Where is this cluster of earthquakes located? They are located on the island of Hawaii. Question 5: Now if you really zoom in on this cluster of earthquakes located in the middle of the Pacific ocean (to where you can see a line of islands), you will notice that the earthquakes are clusters within just one of the islands. Why are there not earthquakes currently located on the other islands? (Hint: you’ll need to understand how these islands formed geologically) The reason as to why the cluster of earthquakes are located on the big island and not on the rest of the of the other islands is because the most active volcano is on the big island. Question 6: With the layers menu still open, now choose “Terrain” and close that menu. Now return your default view to the U.S. (see hint at the top of this lab). You will notice that there is an enormous amount of earthquakes centered over the state of Oklahoma. However, there are no plate boundaries here. If you click on one or more of the dots, you can determine the average magnitudes of some of these events. Google “Earthquakes in Oklahoma” and see if you can explain the reason why there are so many quakes located here. The reason as to why there are so many earthquakes occurring in the middle of Oklahoma is oil fracking. The practice of fluid waste from oil and gas production is injected deep underground.
Question 7: Return to the main webpage (before you clicked on the Interactive Map). Scroll down the page until you see the link entitled “Special Earthquakes, Earthquake Sequences, and Fault Zones”. Once on the new page, click on the Alaskan earthquake that happened in 1964. Scroll all the way down the page under the “Videos” section and watch the first video on the list. Describe in a few sentences how destructive this earthquake was and how it changed the lives of the people of Anchorage forever. This earthquake was so destructive that it caused tsunamis that had 20ft waves. This earthquake. Gave scientist a better understanding about earthquakes and what they can do to help. Question 8: Now again return to the main page. To the right of where you clicked on the interactive map, there is a map that says “Did you Feel It”? Click on the “Tell us” button. Now choose “Summary maps” and you can choose the location and year of earthquake intensities. The intensity of an earthquake is how much ground shaking was felt during that year’s earthquakes and is mapped using the Modified Mercalli Scale. Choose the “Global 2017 Map” and list an area that is marked as Modified Mercalli VIII or IX (8 or 9). Sorry, I can't seem to find this button on the website. Question 9: Return again to the main page and find the “Information by Region” button. Choose “Texas”. Now choose “All Earthquakes past 30 days”. What part of the state of Texas are most of the earthquakes found? Most of the earthquakes are found east of El Paso. Question 10: The link below the “All Earthquakes” link (Question 9) is the “Texas Seismicity Map” link. There is a significant cluster of earthquakes under the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex region. These earthquakes exist for the same reason as you discovered in Question 6 for Oklahoma. Google “Shale Plays of Texas” and see if you can discover the name of the shale play that is underneath Dallas. I believe the name is the Barnett shale.
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