This site contains 22 questions on the topic of earthquakes, which covers seismic waves, earthquake characteristics, and earthquake magnitudes. This is part of the Principles of Earth Science course at the University of South Dakota. Users submit their answers and are provided immediate verification. Full description.

This lesson on earthquakes is based on naturalist John Muir's experiences with two significant earthquakes, the 1872 earthquake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Students will learn to explain that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults, and list the major geologic events including earthquakes, volcanic ... Full description.

This outline of basic information on earthquakes starts with an explanation of an earthquake, including the forces acting on rock, (tension, compression, and shear) and plastic and elastic deformation of rock. Next, the principle of the seismograph, seismometer, and seismogram along with the three types of seismic waves are discussed. Information is then presented to help the student distinguish between ... Full description.

This site has brief lesson plans for a 15-day study of earthquakes. Many earthquake topics are covered. Days 5 and 6 focus on the Richter Magnitude scale. A brief list of related websites is included. Full description.

At this website, users can listen to the 'sounds' produced by earthquakes. Scientists have taken recordings of vibrations that occur during earthquakes and transformed them into sound files by speeding them up. Through listening, people can better understand the shaking that occurs during earthquakes. An interactive listening quiz lets students hear and compare earthquakes that occurred near each ... Full description.

This site is part of GeoNet Internet Geography, a resource for pre-collegiate British geography students and their instructors. This page focuses on earthquakes and how they occur. Topics covered include the effects of earthquakes, measuring earthquakes, and case studies about specific recent earthquakes. Full description.

This resource features links to: an earthquake quiz; a rotating globe showing earthquake locations; famous earthquake accounts by Mark Twain, Jack London, Charles Darwin, and John Muir; a Java animation of the gradual buildup of stress that leads to earthquakes; a three-page history of seismology to 1910; and other educational and earthquake websites. Full description.

Most earthquakes occur in the top 100 miles of the crust of the Earth, but some happen far below that, where the earth is so hot that rocks should simply flow past each other instead of producing the jolts that cause earthquakes. So what causes them? This radio broadcast explains how one geophysicist has performed experiments revealing that rock squeezed under intense pressure contains bits that become ... Full description.

In this exercise, students will study the three types of faults, investigate the association between faults and earthquakes, and examine the relationship between earthquakes and plate tectonics. There is a set of animations that illustrate the types of seismic waves, an exercise in which students determine the location of an earthquake epicenter using arrival times of P and S waves, and an exercise ... Full description.

This article provides a brief description of the recent earthquakes in Pakistan and Sumatra and continues with an investigation of earthquakes and their causes. Topics include the relationship of earthquakes to plate tectonics and the structure of the Earth, especially faults; factors that contribute to the strength (magnitude) of earthquakes; and the uncertainties of earthquake prediction. There ... Full description.