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Big Ideas in Science

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What patterns to you see in the distribution of earthquakes across the continental United States?
Most earthquakes occur in the United States along the coast of the Pacific, particularly the shoreline of California, Alaska and Japan in addition to earthquakes that occur in the mid-west and east coast states and along the border amid Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. As noted, the highest levels of risk are in the west coast whereas the eastern central region is more moderate risk and insignificant risks are among northern and southern regions.
Locate your home on this map and make a note of the relative risk to you by indicating the color where you live.
Chicago, Illinois – has a very low hazard of occurrence. Magnitude: 2.5; Region: Mid-West. According to Earthquakes (2012), Illinois is at risk from two major seismic zones, the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone and the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The Wabash Valley Zone is located between southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana. The NMSZ is located in the Central Mississippi Valley and includes portions of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. During any 50-year time span, there is a 25% to 40% chance of a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake in this seismic zone. Since 1974, the year network monitoring of seismic activity began, more than 3000 earthquakes have been recorded in the NMSZ. Fortunately, none of these earthquakes exceeded a magnitude of 5.0, and most occurred without our noticing. The largest earthquake in recent years occurred on the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. This earthquake registered a magnitude of 5.4 and occurred in Mt. Carmel, Illinois on April 18th, 2008.
What patterns do you see in the distribution of earthquakes around the world?
The predominance of earthquakes are concentrated in tapered zones and are not distributed randomly over the surface of the earth. They tend to occur on active faults that classify tectonic plates of the earth. The areas most prone to earthquakes are the Mississippi River Valley, South Carolina, Charleston, and Eastern Massachusetts. Northern California, The Cascadia Subduction Zone (offshore of northern California), Oregon and Washington are represented using modeled large earthquakes with magnitudes of 8 and 9 with a 500 year rupture average from California to Washington in comparison to a smaller model that ruptures.
Click on one of the earthquakes on the map and make a note of its magnitude and region. Magnitude: 3.5-7km West of Brawley, California.
Would you be willing to live in one of the red areas on the map? I am not willing to risk my life and live in the danger zones of the red area. These areas present the most dangerous and hazardous to live. Earthquakes can pose grave danger especially the ground effects of shaking that can damage buildings or settling of the ground causing ground displacement to another level prior to the subsidence. A combination of soil and water causes the ground to become soft and similar to quicksand. As a result, buildings can tilt, sink or tip over. Water can also emit flooding or rupturing of dams or among rivers – levees, causing possible drowning. Fires can also occur from broken gas or power lines.

If you and your family were forced to relocate to a red area, how could you use the USGS resources on earthquake readiness to help your family prepare themselves?
The resources of the USGS are helpful and provide significant information for earthquake preparedness. Securing items within my home such as turning off gas, water, compute

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