Earthquake Early Warning System for the Pacific Northwest: ShakeAlert

Novice Spanish

On March 11, 2011, a devastating magnitude-9 earthquake struck off the coast of Tohoku, Japan, where the Pacific Plate dives beneath the Okhotsk Plate. On January 26th, 1700, the West Coast of the United States experienced a similar tsunami-generating megathrust earthquake. An earthquake like this will strike the Cascadia subduction zone again. How can we protect ourselves?

Residents of California, Oregon and Washington now have an earthquake early warning tool—the ShakeAlert© system, operated by the United States Geological Survey.

ShakeAlert: Pacific Northwest and the Big Squeeze
In this activity triad, learners explore compression patterns using spring-like devices while learning about processes seen at the Juan de Fuca and North American subduction zone. The 5-minute activity introduces students to a conceptual understanding of the effect of distance on ground deformation at this boundary, while the 30 and 60 minute activities move to data analysis experiences.
Activities Novice

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