Plate Tectonics Pangaea Webquest

Earthquakes Webquest

Directions:

Type in the following website:
Click on the Introduction.
Read the text on the screen and then click “Next” at the top when you are ready to move to the next screen.
When was the earliest seismograph invented? ______By whom? ______
On the “What a Jerk” screen, how do we know where the tectonic plate boundaries are? ______
On the “It’s not your fault” screen, in what direction and how fast is the Pacific plate moving? ______and ______
On the “Under Stress” screen, what force causes the blocks along faults to lock up? ______
What happens when the stress causes the fault to break? ______
On the “Spreading the Motion” screen, fill in the blanks: “Tectonic plates are somewhat ______. The motion between them is not confined entirely to their own boundaries. The motion extends into their ______and is spread out among a system of ______all around the plate's ______.
On the “Around the World” screen, where did the waves recorded on a horizontal pendulum in Potsdam, Germanyin 1889 by E. von Rebleur Paschwitz originate? ______
On “The Slinky and the Rope” screen, P waves are also known as ______waves that move like a wave through a ______(slinky or rope). S waves move in a shear motion, ______to the direction the wave is travelling like a wave moving through a ______(slinky or rope).
On the “Under a Shaking Record” screen, look at the seismograph picture. What is the order that seismic waves occur? 1st ______, 2nd ______, last ______.
On the “Locatin’ the Shakin’ ” screen, how many seismograph stations data must you have in order to pinpoint the epicenter of an earthquake? ______
What information can one seismograph tell you? ______
On the “Measuring a Quake” screen, what are two scales used to measure an earthquake? ______and ______
On the “Dr. Quake” screen, how much stronger is an M 7.0 earthquake on the Richter scale than an M 6.0? ______
On “The Bigger The Better” screen, what scale should be used to measure earthquakes greater than M 7.0 on the Richter scale? ______
On the “And That’s Not All” screen, what other use does seismology have besides measuring earthquakes? ______
On the “Earth’s Seismic X-Ray” screen, what are the largest drill holes in Earth so far? ____
What do we call the imaging procedure of combining seismograms from different places to gain an interior picture of the inside of Earth? ______
On the “History and Technology” screen, what agency is responsible for monitoring earthquakes in California and maintaining the Parkfield project? ______
Right click on the “Parkfield” link and select “Open in a New Tab”.
Click on the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquakes Hazard Program tab to open it.
Look around. Where do most of the earthquakes occur in the United States? ______
Now go to:
You should take some time to explore all the topics on this site. Use the interactive components to help understand some basic concepts involved with earthquakes. Pay particular attention to the animations of the types of seismic waves.
Notice that a P wave moves like a ______. P waves pass through liquids, solids and gases. They move spherically outward from the focus at speeds around 6 km/s. S waves pass through solids and move spherically outward from the focus at speeds around 3.5 km/s.
Read the paragraph about S waves. The outer core is a liquid. Why don’t S waves move through the outer core? ______
Notice that an S wave and a Rayleigh surface wave move in a similar fashion with the only difference being that an S wave does not reach the ______.
Love waves are a type of surface wave. Love waves move like a ______.

When you are done with your webquest, you may use headphones and explore one of the three options below:

1) Check out the lecture notes on Earthquakes from the following link:

2) Check out these helpful animations about plate tectonics, earthquakes and other related geology topics at

3) Check out the animations on attenuation, divergent boundary, elastic rebound, horst & graben, liquefaction, shadow zone and strike-slip fault on the USGS site: