Get Your Own Earthquake Sensor, and Other Temblor Tips

By Anna Kuchment | August 23, 2011 |

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Credit: Old Shoe Woman, via Flikr

If you live anywhere between North Carolina and Connecticut, chances are you felt the earth shake a couple of hours ago. If you have kids, they are probably asking you lots of questions–or will be, soon. Here are some resources to help you answer them, adapted from the blog of the National Science Teachers Association:

USGS: Earthquakes for Kids http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/

Yahoo Kids! Plate Tectonics Page http://kids.yahoo.com/directory/Science-and-Nature/The-Earth/Geology/Plate-Tectonics

Scholastic: Reading the Richter Scale http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4892

CBS News: How Earthquakes are Measured http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-202_162-10007016.html?tag=page

Scientific American: Seconds Before the Big One – Progress in Earthquake Alarms http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tsunami-seconds-before-the-big-one

MSNBC: How Quake Prediction Works (or not) http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/11/6247882-how-quake-prediction-works-or-not

USGS Earthquake Science Explained (10 articles) http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2006/21/

Earthquake Teaching Resources http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/earthquakes/

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To get more involved, join the Quake Catcher Network, a citizen science project based at the University of California, Riverside, and get your own earthquake sensor:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/project.cfm?id=seismic-sensor-network

About the Author: Anna Kuchment edits the Advances news section for Scientific American and was previously a reporter, writer and editor with Newsweek magazine. Her first book, “The Forgotten Cure,” about bacteriophage viruses and their potential as weapons against antibiotic resistance, was just published by Copernicus Books/Springer. Follow on Twitter @akuchment.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Tags: earthquake, education, kids, plate tectonics, STEM

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