August 23, 2011

Get your own earthquake sensor, and other temblor tips

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

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:

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USGS: Earthquakes for Kids https://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 https://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:

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

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