1. What patterns do you see in the distribution of earthquakes across the continental United States?
2. Locate your home on this map and make a note of the relative risk to you by indicating the color where you live. The USGS also reports on earthquakes around the world. Visit this interactive map to find the latest global earthquake data from the past seven days:http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/.
3. What patterns do you see in the distribution of earthquakes around the world?
4. Click on one of the earthquakes on the map and make a note of its magnitude and region.
5. Would you be willing to live in one of the red areas on the map? Explain.
6. If you and your family were forced to relocate to a red area, how could you use the USGS resources on earthquake readiness: (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php?categoryID=14) to help your family prepare themselves?
7. Examine the list of the most destructive earthquakes on record: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/most_destructive.php. What are the two most recent earthquakes on this list? What does this tell you about the power of science to control or predict earthquakes?
8. Even though science cannot predict or prevent earthquakes, what seismological tools do we have to sense the planet’s rumblings? What events do you think might have encouraged the development of these tools?
9. How is this kind of geological energy different from biological energy (such as the calories creatures get when they consume food)? How are they the same?