Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists E arthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis don’t happen every day, so how can budding scientists study how they work? Through experiments, models, and demon- strations. This in-depth resource will teach readers how to build a seismograph to record a simulated earthquake, compare pressure waves and shear waves—the two types of ground shocks—using a Slinky, and replicate a tsunami’s destructive effect on a “coastline” built in a bathtub. Authors Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori even discuss issues of modern architecture and civil engineering: how science can be used to protect buildings and property in earthquake-prone areas. Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis answers a wide array of questions about these phenomena. Can animals “predict” earthquakes? How have various cultures explained the movement of the earth throughout history? What is the Richter scale, and what does it tell us about the strength of a quake? And most important, readers will learn how to earthquake-proof their homes, and how to protect them- selves should they experience a tremor. SCIENCE/ACTIVITIES Ages 9 & Up Matthys Levy is a civil engineer and the inventor of the Tenstar Dome, which is used to cover athletic venues around the world. Mario Salvadori was a professor of architecture and the founder of the Salvadori Center, an educational nonprofit devoted to teaching youth about math and science through hands-on study of structure and architecture. Levy / Salvadori Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis Levy / Salvadori ISBN 978-1-55652-801-9 9 781556 528019 51495 $14.95 (CAN $16.95) Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page i Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levy, Matthys. [Earthquake games] Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis : projects and principles for beginning geologists / Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori. p. cm. Includes index. Originally published: Earthquake games. New York : M.K. McElderry Books, c1997. ISBN 978-1-55652-801-9 1. Earthquakes—Juvenile literature. 2. Volcanoes—Juvenile literature. 3. Educational games—Juvenile literature. I. Salvadori, Mario, 1907- 1997. II. Levy, Matthys. Earthquake games. III. Title. QE521.3.L486 2009 551.2—dc22 2008040143 Cover and interior design: Scott Rattray Interior illustration: Christina C. Blatt Cover photos: iStock © 1997, 2009 by Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori All rights reserved First published in 1997 by Margaret K. McElderry Books as Earthquake Games This edition published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 ISBN 978-1-55652-801-9 Printed in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page ii To the children of P.S. 45 in the Bronx, New York, who fi st asked, “Mario, how do earthquakes work?” And to Nicola, Okna, Shae, Edison, Austin, Daniel, and Maia M. L. and M. S. 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page iii Preface vii 1. The Secrets of the Earth 1 ᭤ The Cracked Egg 4 ᭤ Scraping Plates 7 ᭤ The Birth of Mountains 9 ᭤ Falling Towers 12 2. If You Had Been There 17 ᭤ Liquefaction 20 3. When the Ocean Rolls 25 ᭤ Convection 26 ᭤ Generating a Tsunami 27 ᭤ Tsunami in a Tub 30 4. Earthquake Messages 35 ᭤ Pressure Waves 37 ᭤ Shear Waves 38 ᭤ The Speed of Waves 40 ᭤ Wave Reflection 41 Contents 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page iv ᭤ Wave Refraction 42 ᭤ The Strength of Water 43 5. How Strong Was It? 45 ᭤ Build a Seismometer 47 ᭤ A Pendulum 51 ᭤ Another Pendulum Experiment 54 ᭤ The Seismograph 56 6. From Myth to Science 65 ᭤ The Shaking Experiment 66 ᭤ Making Predictions 70 ᭤ Mapping the Risk 74 7. Can Animals Predict Earthquakes? 79 8. Should We Fight or Fool the Quakes? 83 ᭤ A Push-Pull Demonstration 86 ᭤ A Bending Demonstration 88 ᭤ Isolation 92 ᭤ Building on Pads 93 ᭤ A Pendulum Isolator 95 9. The Smoking Mountains 103 ᭤ A Spewing Volcano 105 ᭤ Another Volcanic Eruption 108 ᭤ Build a Cardboard Volcano 110 ᭤ A Smoking Volcano 112 ᭤ Geothermal Energy 117 Conclusion 121 Appendix: Important Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis 123 Resources 131 Index 133 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page v 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page vi vii e expect many things to move, but not the earth! How could the earth, which is strong enough to sup- port a skyscraper, shake and break up? Where do earth- quakes come from? Are we ever going to know when and where they will hit? And co uld w e ever learn to b uild str uctures capa ble of withstanding earthquakes? Many years have passed since humans fi st experienced earth- quakes. Over time, we have learned answers to most of these ques- tions—but not all of them. The book is built around projects, demonstrations, and simple experiments that make it easy and fun to develop a physical under- standing of earthquakes and their natural relatives—volcanic erup- tions and tsunami waves. You will enjoy working on most of these projects alone or with a friend; for a few, you may want to ask a par- ent or an older sibling or friend to help you. In either case, you will have a good time and also learn a lot about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. W Preface 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page vii We hope you will enjo y reading this book as much as w e did writing it, but above all, we hope that you will never meet face-to- face with an earthquake, an erupting volcano, or a tsunami. NN OOTTEE :: Although English units of measurement (feet, pounds, etc.) are still commonly used in the United States, almost all the other countries in the world have adopted a measurement system called the metric system or SI. This system is taught in o ur schools and is the official me asurement system of our federal government. For these reasons, all the measures in this book are given fi st in met- ric units, then in the equivalent measures in English units. viii PREFACE 1 kilogram 2.2 pounds 3.28 feet = 1 meter 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page viii W e all liv e on th e surface of the earth, but did y ou ever wonder what goes on beneath the surface, deep inside the earth, deeper than th e dee pest mine? No human being has ever been do wn there, but earth scientists have been a ble to learn a lot about what it’s made of and what goes on inside the big sphere on which w e live. And a t the same t ime, their discoveries have helped to e xplain much of the mystery of how earthquakes happen and volcanoes erupt. Imagine that the earth is like an apple or a peach and consists of a skin, a “meaty” part, and a core or pit. The core of the earth is solid metal (iron and nickel) surrounded by hot liquid metals. The The Secrets of the Earth 1 1 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_interior 11/12/08 3:06 PM Page 1 [...]... into e ach o ther and cre ate earthquakes that damage buildings and kill p eople, you only need to use your hands You’ll Need ᭤ 2 hands 1 Make your hands into fists with the knuckles bulging out The backs of your hands will be your “plates” and the knuckles will represent the rough “edges” of the tectonic plates 2 Push your knuckles together, and at the same time try to make one hand slide with respect... creating a ser ies of underwater mountains called ridges The one place on earth where this kind of crack passes through land and you can actually see these ridges being born is on the island of Iceland Ridges Islands Water level Crust Crust Magma 12 EARTHQUA K ES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS Ever since th e e arth’s cr ust hardene d, e arthquakes ha ve occurred, not all over the earth’s crust but mainly... one or both of your hands 2 Push your hands together as you did in the Birth of Mountains demonstration (see p 9) and suddenly let them slide against each other The cube towers will likely collapse 3 Imagine that the towers were actual buildings resting on tectonic plates How devastating can an earthquake be? 13 14 EARTHQUA K ES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS Some earthquakes are w eak and do n ot do too much... en tire cit ies and kill th ousands up on thousands of people The most deadly ever, which struck Tangshan, China, in 1976, killed more than three hundred thousand people At the present time, most of the residents of the United States are lucky: strong earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur mainly on the West Coast Bu t in th e past th ere have been de adly earthquakes in th e East and in th e Mid... vibrations and so unds that pre cede an e arthquake and tha t we ourselves cann ot feel o r hear You will be amazed at how sensitive animals are to earthquake precursors when we explore the issue in chapter 7 19 20 EARTHQUA K ES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS And why did the island disappear in the middle of the river? It did so because when sand is fil ed with water and is shaken by an earthquake it liquefies, or... the continents have bumped and pushed against each other, neither of them giving in; they pushed and pushed, and eventually bent up the earth’s crust This is how they created high mountains and still do The Secrets of the Earth The Birth of Mountains You can feel how mountains form through this demonstration You’ll Need ᭤ 2 hands 1 Keep your hands flat, with palms down, and push your middle fingers... Need ᭤ pail ᭤ sand (enough to fill the pail) ᭤ brick ᭤ water 1 Fill a pail with dry sand and set a brick vertically on the level sand surface If you shake the pail slightly, as if it were hit by an earthquake, the brick may shake but it will not collapse If You Had Been There 2 Next, add water to the sand-filled pail until it reaches the very level of the sand surface, thus saturating the sand with water... boatman willing to take you and your whole family across with all your possessions I 17 18 EARTHQUA K ES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS High up on th e far shore, you helped your family build a temporary sh elter, wh ere y ou wo uld sp end y our fi st win ter in th e wilderness While it was still dark on the morning of December 16, your dog became restless and started moaning and baying, waking you out of... bump against adjoining plates, others will slide along them, and some will move away from each other A plate may even slide under an adjoining plate 5 6 EARTHQUA K ES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS NOTE: Since the consistency of a boiled egg varies depending on its age, the suggested boiling time is approximate and you may have to proceed by trial and error to be successful with this experiment Just like the... circum-Pacific belt, which starts in Japan and circles the Pacific Oc an, bringing devastation to Alaska, the West Coast of the United States, and S outh America, as well as Southeast Asia Earthquakes also occur along a strip from Portugal to Australia cutting through Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Iran, called the Alpide belt Falling Towers To show how earthquakes can damage buildings and kill people, try this demonstration . Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists E arthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis don’t happen. they pushed and pushed, and eventually bent up the earth’s crust. This is how they created high mountains and still do. EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS 8 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_ interior. 528019 51495 $14.95 (CAN $16.95) Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists 01 (i-viii-1-136) earthquakes_ interior 11/12/08