Transcript How EARTHQUAKES affect the environment….

How
EARTHQUAKES
affect the
environment….
Standard 2.3
 Use
information about the
impact of human actions or
natural disasters on the
environment to support a
simple hypothesis, make a
prediction, or draw a
conclusion.
First: The Question

How does an Earthquake affect the
environment of living things?

Second: Research and Observation……
Earthquake
A sudden movement of the
earth's crust caused by the
release of stress collected
along faults or by volcanic
activity
Earthquake Statistics http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html
Earthquake Video
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/environment-naturaldisasters/earthquakes/earthquake-101.html
Richter Earthquake
Magnitudes Effects
Less than
3.5
3.5-5.4
Under 6.0
6.1-6.9
7.0-7.9
8 or
greater
Generally not felt, but recorded.
Often felt, but rarely causes damage.
At most slight damage to well-designed buildings.
Can cause major damage to poorly constructed
buildings over small regions.
Can be destructive in areas up to about 100
kilometers across where people live.
Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage
over larger areas.
Great earthquake. Can cause serious damage in
areas several hundred kilometers across.
Frequency of Occurrence of Earthquakes
Magnitude
Average Annually
8 and higher
1
7 - 7.9
17
6 - 6.9
134
5 - 5.9
1319
4 - 4.9
13,000
3 - 3.9
130,000
2 - 2.9
1,300,000
(estimated)
(estimated)
(estimated)
Worldwide Earthquake
Related Deaths for
2000 - 2009
Estimated
Deaths
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
231
21357
1685
33819
228802
82364
6605
712
88011
369
4 of the10 'Worst' Natural Disasters
October 8, 2005 magnitude 7.6
earthquake in Pakistan
 1976 earthquake magnitude 8 China
 New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 in
southern Missouri
 Mass extinction 65 million years ago – We
are unsure of what caused this

The New Madrid Earthquakes of
1811-1812
During the strongest of the quakes, great cracks
opened and spewed out sand and water. Gaping
crevices formed, some twelve feet wide and deep
and more than twenty feet in length.
 Low waterfalls developed at points along the
Mississippi in the vicinity of New Madrid.
 The quakes caused waves to rush over river
banks. Return currents washed countless limbs
and even whole trees into the main channels.

• Many boats capsized, and cargoes and crews were
never seen again. Seasoned riverboat pilots had to
deal with whole new rivers. Cracks and fissures,
downed trees, and other obstacles made roads and
trails impassable.
•Massive landslides occurred along the Mississippi
and Ohio River bluffs from Memphis to Indiana.
•Some ground areas rose or fell as much as twenty
feet relative to the surrounding landscape.
An eighteen- to twenty-acre area near
Piney River in Tennessee sank so low that
the tops of the trees were at the same
level as the surrounding ground.
 Whole forests sank below their original
level and filled with water to form
swamps and shallow lakes.
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Reelfoot Lake was naturally formed through
a series of earthquakes in 1811-1812, which
caused the Mississippi River to run
backwards and fill the area with water.
In other areas, lakes and swamps rose to
higher elevations.
Soon their waters drained away or
evaporated. In time they evolved into
prairies and upland forests.
Much of this land now supports Tennessee
cotton and soybeans.

A first person point of view of these
earthquakes…John Bradbury was on the
Mississippi River on Dec. 15th, 1811
After supper. we went to sleep as usual: about ten o'clock,
and in the night I was awakened by the most tremendous
noise, accompanied by an agitation of the boat so violent,
that it appeared in danger of upsetting...I could distinctly see
the river as if agitated by a storm; and although the noise
was inconceivably loud and terrific, I could distinctly hear the
crash of falling trees, and the screaming of the wild fowl on
the river, but found that the boat was still safe at her
moorings... By the time we could get to our fire. which was
on a large flag, in the stern of the boat, the shock had
ceased; but immediately the perpendicular banks, both above
and below us, began to fall into the river in such vast masses,
as to nearly sink our boat by the swell they occasioned . . . At
day-light we had counted twenty-seven shocks . . .
Reel foot lake now
They say we could have another
massive Earthquake soon….we have
small ones all the time.

http://folkworm.ceri.memphis.edu/recente
qs/Quakes/quakes0.html
4000 earthquakes since 1974
Now….
Use your new “Dry Erase Board” to
answer the next question.
 I will come see what you came up with…

How Earthquakes Impact the
Environment
collapsing buildings
 property damage
 mud slides
 fires
 floods
 tsunamis
 loss of power
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