The Virtual Earthquake

Student Activity Page

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Object of the Activity

  • Virtual Earthquake will show you the recordings of an earthquake's seismic waves detected by instruments far away from the earthquake. The instrument recording the seismic waves is called a seismograph and the recording is a seismogram. The point of origin of an earthquake is called its focus and the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus is the epicenter. You are to locate the epicenter of an earthquake by making simple measurments on three seismograms that will be sent to you by the Virtual Earthquake program. Additionally, you will be required to determine the Richter Magnitude of that quake from the same recordings. Richter Magnitude is an estimate of the amount of energy released during and earthquake.  

 

Steps to Follow:

  1. Go to the Virtual Earthquake Site located at: http://vcourseware4.calstatela.edu/VirtualEarthquake/VQuakeIntro.html
  2. There are four different geographic locations and go to the one directed by your teahcers.
  3. After you complete seveal simulated earthquakes form expert groups with studnets from the other groups and share your results.