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-natural disasters/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

8 and higher 7 - 7.9 6 - 6.9 5 - 5.9 4 - 4.9 3 - 3.9 2 - 2.9

Average Annually

1 17 134 1319 13,000 (estimated) 130,000 (estimated) 1,300,000 (estimated)

Worldwide Earthquake Related Deaths for 2000 - 2009

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Estimated Deaths 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.

    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. 15 th , 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 Environment Impact the        collapsing buildings property damage mud slides fires floods tsunamis loss of power