Sc300 Unit 4 Assignment

Dangerous and Natural Energy

Rebecca Kanski

Kaplan University

HS300: Big Ideas in Science: From Methods to Mutations

Professor Douglas

February 22, 2012

Everyday thousands of small almost imperceptible earthquakes occur daily, as the tectonic plates shift and move around over one another and occasionally run into one another; or get stuck on top of one another along the plate boundaries while the rest of the plate continues to move until something finally gives, and the plates shift apart resulting in an earthquake. The frequency and distribution of earthquakes worldwide is widely determined by the fault locations; unfortunately earthquakes are a natural phenomenon the unfortunately cannot be prevented or even predicted.

1. What pattern do you see in the distribution of earthquakes across the continental United States?

When looking at the 2008 United States Seismic Hazard Map, on the USGS website, it shows that earthquakes most frequently occur along the Pacific coast line, the Big Island of Hawaii, and the southern coast of Alaska. Mountain ranges in the western portion of the country seem to have a fair amount of moderate seismic activity as a few locations along the Eastern Seaboard, and the mid-eastern mountain ranges.

2. (a) Locate your home on the map and make note of the relative risk to you by indicating the color where you where you live.

I live on the Kitsap Peninsula in Northwest Washington, this area is in the red are indicating a relative risk of 48-64%g, with pink to the west and orange to the east. Needless to say we are in and surrounded by areas with a relatively high risk for earthquakes.

3. What patterns do you see in the distribution of earthquakes around the world?

The interactive map of earthquakes on the USGS website, gives the viewer a chance to see where the earthquakes that have occurred worldwide. It occurs to me that earthquakes occur more often in an area commonly referred to as the “Ring of Fire”. The Ring...