Global GIS Education: Exploring Earthquakes
in Europe Author:
Joseph J.
Kerski, Ph.D. Geographer US Geological Survey rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/
Global GIS Education: Exploring Earthquakes in Europe Description In these lessons, students use Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) together with the tools and data from the Europe Global
GIS CD to investigate earthquakes, volcanoes, and population from a local to
global scale. The lessons can be
used with other data in the Global GIS project to investigate earthquakes in
other continents. Furthermore, the
methods used here can be applied to other map themes contained within the Europe
GIS dataset.
The lessons are organized into 9
parts: Part 1—What’s Shakin’? Part 2—Digging Deeper Part 3—Earthquakes in Iceland Part 6—Investigating Your Community Part 7—Earthquakes Everyday Part 8—Analyzing Recent Earthquakes Part 9—Earthquakes Respect No Boundaries Problem
Setting Earthquakes in Europe are costly in both lives
and property. As
the population grows and development expands to cover more and more of the land
area of Europe, more people are affected
by earthquakes each year. In this earthquakes lesson, students are given a
scenario where they must report on the distribution and frequency of
earthquakes in Europe related to cities, political boundaries,
volcanoes, and fault lines. They analyze current earthquakes from
the Internet, and assess the hazards from a continental to a local scale, to
their community. Investigation The U.S. Geological Survey was created in 1879 to
help understand the geologic, biologic, hydrologic, and geographic
characteristics and phenomena of the planet.
Included in this mission is a thorough understanding of
earthquakes. To help assess where and
why earthquakes occur in Europe, the U.S. Geological Survey has hired
you as an earth systems scientist to provide them a report that will include
the distribution, frequency, and causes of earthquakes in Europe,
specific regions of the continent, and the state where you attend school. Included in the report must be an analysis
of the depth and magnitude of the earthquakes, and the locations and
characteristics of cities, volcanoes, and faults in relationship to
earthquakes. As noted above, earthquakes cause millions of dollars
of property and critical infrastructure damage each year. "Critical infrastructure" refers
to large-scale systems that local, regional, and national governments build
across the landscape. These include roads, airport runways, power lines,
gas pipelines, water pipelines, sewer lines, railroads, fiber optic cable,
broadband Internet lines, telephone lines, shipping docks, power stations,
radio and television transmission towers, and canals. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ▬▬▬▬
Part 1: What’s Shakin’? In this part, you
will examine earthquakes across Europe, noting their distribution,
magnitude, and depth, and also examining certain regions on the continent. After accessing
the Global GIS interface, you will be viewing the "G" part of GIS
with the map on the right side and a set of tools across the left and the top. Turn off (uncheck) all themes except for the
following: shaded relief base (at bottom of
table of contents) political boundaries labels 2) Parts of
other continents besides Europe are shown
on the map. What are they? 3) Describe
at least three characteristics of the land surface in Europe, including areas
where mountain ranges exist. Access the
Movies, 3D menu at the top 
1) List three kinds of critical
infrastructure that could be destroyed or damaged during an earthquake.
For each, describe why the destruction of these infrastructure resources is so
disruptive to local, regional, and national government and commerce.
and Open Menu.
4) What years of earthquakes does this movie depict?
5) The USGS seismologists want you to make
three observations about the spatial pattern of earthquakes that you
notice as they occur across the European continent. Include in your statements the extent of the earthquakes, and
specific areas of Europe where earthquakes occur more often.
6) Make three observations about the magnitude
of earthquakes and where earthquakes of certain magnitudes occur across Europe. Do large earthquakes
only occur in specific regions? If so,
where are they?
7) Do any specific years seem to have more
earthquakes than others, or would you say that about the same number of
earthquakes occur each year?
Close the movie and return to your GIS. Now you can further analyze the earthquake theme and draw some conclusions.
Turn on the earthquakes theme.
8) What time period is covered by the earthquake data?
9) Are there more earthquakes shown in the movie or more shown on your map? Why?
10) Do more earthquakes occur near the western
and northern oceans or in
the interior of the European continent? Why?
11) Do more earthquakes occur near the western
and northern oceans or near the Mediterranean Sea? Why?
12) Describe the pattern of earthquakes in Europe in your own words.
13) Which part of Europe would you say contains the most earthquakes: Northern, Eastern, Southern, or Western?
14) What three countries would you say are most prone to earthquakes?
15) What three countries would you say are the least prone to earthquakes?
16) Compare the number of earthquakes that occur in the oceans and seas versus land.
17) Would you say from
analyzing your data that most oceans in water occur in the deep parts of the
oceans and seas, or in the shallow parts?
18) Compare the number of earthquakes in the Atlantic versus
the Arctic Ocean.
19) Examine the feature that runs down the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean by using the pan symbol 
and moving along its full length. Would you characterize it as a
valley (trough), a ridge, or both?
20) What is the name of this feature? You might need to look at other references sources outside of GIS to determine it, such as atlases or a textbook on plate tectonics.
21) Why is this feature so prone to earthquakes?
22) What country in particular needs to be concerned about earthquakes along this feature? Why?
23) What is the name of the island to the northeast of
Iceland that exists along this feature?
Make volcanoes
visible by checking the box to the left of the theme name. If you would like to make the volcanoes symbols
larger, double-click on the volcanoes theme name.
24) How do you think this island formed?
25) What particular hazard exists to people on
land when
an earthquake occurs under the ocean?
26) In what part(s) of Europe would you say that
people need to be concerned about earthquakes occurring in the ocean? Why?
Make major cities visible by checking on the box to the left of the major cities label.
27) What major cities would you say would be most vulnerable to an earthquake under the ocean?
28) Make fault lines visible. Describe three characteristics of the relationship of fault lines to earthquake locations in different locations across Europe.
29) Name an area where a fault exists but few earthquakes occur.
30) Name an area where a fault exists but many earthquakes occur.
31) Why do earthquakes occur near some faults but not others?
32) Are there more earthquakes, or more volcanoes, in Europe? Why?
33) Make three observations about the pattern of
volcanoes in Europe.
34) The USGS wants you to
determine the
relationship of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Examine at least three different places around Europe and
investigate the spatial relationship between earthquakes and volcanoes.
Do volcanoes and earthquakes occur in the same places? Include the three
places you examined, your conclusions about the relationship, and why you
believe the relationship either exists or does not exist.
Single click on
the earthquakes theme so that it becomes raised up, or “active.”
Each row in the
table represents one earthquake in the dataset.
35) Look in the upper left part of your screen
under ArcView GIS to get a count of the number of rows in the earthquakes table. How many earthquakes are recorded in
this dataset?
36) Approximately how many earthquakes are
recorded during an average year? Show
how you determined this answer.
Click on the
"magnitude" field and sort it in descending order
Navigate to the top of the t
.
The row will appear in yellow.
37) What is the magnitude of this earthquake?
Close the table. In the Global GIS Tools box, on the right side of Viewing Tools,
go to "More Tools." Select the
"Zoom to Select 
in the Global GIS Tools box:
Use the "zoom into center" button
a number of times to zoom into your selected earthquake Turn on the themes political boundaries, and
political boundary labels. 38)
In which country did the largest earthquake occur? Access the earthquakes table again and clear
your selection.
Select the field "km" in the
table. This represents the depth of the earthquakes in kilometers
underneath the surface. Click on the
"km" field and sort it in descending order. 39)
What is the depth of this earthquake? Close the table
and select the "Zoom to Selected" tool in the Global GIS Tools box 40)
In which country did the deepest earthquake occur? 41) Did other deep
earthquakes occur in this country? Use the Identify button Zoom
out to Europe. 42)
You are asked to indicate in your USGS report the countries you consider to be most vulnerable to earthquakes.
List the top three countries, and your reasons
for including them. 43) What is the magnitude of the earthquakes shown in your GIS? 44) If you displayed ALL earthquakes, would it be more or
less than the number of earthquakes currently shown in your GIS? Click on “earthquake tools” in your Global GIS window. Show earthquakes of ALL magnitudes, as follows: 45) How does the pattern of ALL magnitudes compare to the
earthquakes above magnitude 4? Change the display back to showing earthquakes above magnitude
4. Next, double-click on the Earthquakes theme to access the legend
editor. Double-click on the earthquakes above 6 in magnitude and increase
the size so that the large earthquakes stand out from the rest. Examine your map. 46) Describe the pattern of large earthquakes in Europe in
your own words. 47) Do the large earthquakes occur in areas where many
other earthquakes exist, or do the large ones tend to occur off by themselves? Pan
..
Navigate to the top of the table and click on the row containing the earthquake
with the greatest depth to select it.
The row will appear in yellow. .
Use the "zoom into center" button
a number of times to zoom to your selected earthquake. 
and click on
other earthquake epicenters to find out. 
and zoo
48) You receive an email from the USGS
seismologists that ask you to determine three areas of Spain where
most earthquakes occur. What three areas will you list in your report?
Turn on major
cities and turn off earthquakes. You
might have to zoom in to see the labels.
Use the
"Create Profile" tool 
and draw a line from
the Spain-France border near Andorra
southwest across Spain to Gibraltar. Choose to profile the data set “elevation.”
49)
Describe how the land
elevation changes across Spain from Andorra to Gibraltar.
Turn earthquakes
back on.
50) Examine the earthquakes across your
profile. What kind of terrain in Spain is more
prone to earthquakes—valleys, central plateau, or mountains? Why?
Turn off earthquakes, and note the location and names of the major cities.
Turn earthquakes back on.
51) Of the major cities in Spain,
indicate in your report to the USGS the 2 cities that you consider to be the
most vulnerable to an earthquake.
Indicate why you consider them to be the most vulnerable.
52) Congratulations! You have completed the first part of the assignment and have
contributed much to the understanding of earthquakes in Europe. Indicate what you consider to be the most
surprising thing you have learned in this part, the most interesting thing, and
the most significant thing.
Most surprising:
Most interesting:
Most significant:
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▬▬▬▬ Part 2: Digging Deeper
In this part, you
will examine the relationship between earthquakes and cities, and investigate
earthquakes in a specific area in eastern Europe.
Click on the
Advanced Interface button at the bottom of the Global GIS Tools window. You will notice the additional tools now at
the top of your computer screen.
Make major cities
the active theme by clicking once on it. Clear any previous city selections .
Make earthquakes
the active theme by clicking once on it. Clear any previous earthquake selections .
Under the Theme
pull-down menu, press "Select By Theme" to discover how many
earthquakes are within 50 kilometers of major cities,
as shown below. Click New Set when finished.
Examine the
resulting cities table. 
.
Look at the numbers "___ of ____" in the upper left of your computer screen.
53) How many cities resulted from your
query of the data? Explain in your own
words what the results of your query means.
54) What percentage of European
earthquakes are within 50 kilometers of major cities? Show how you determined this answer.
55) Make 3 observations about the pattern of
earthquakes near European cities.
56) Compare the amount of earthquakes in Germany
versus Spain. Which country would
you say receives the most earthquakes?
57) Which country in Europe would you say receives the most
publicity about earthquakes in newspapers, television, radio, and on the
Internet?
58) Which country in Europe would you say receives the most earthquakes, based on your observations of the data on your map?
59) Compare your answer above to the two previous
questions. Did you write a different
answer for the two questions? If so,
why do you suppose this is the case?
As you move
around the map, notice the latitude and longitude values to the upper right of
the view (map) window.
Zoom to the earthquakes near 26.53 east longitude and 45.70 north latitude. Set the scale to 1:1,000,000 by typing in the scale field in the upper right.
60) In which country is
this?
61)
Identify the two
northeasternmost earthquakes (above 6.0 magnitude) in this area and use the
identify button to indicate
their magnitudes.
List the magnitudes below.
Click on "Global GIS Help"
in Global GIS Tools. Go to
"Datasets" and select the earthquakes theme.
62) What field name contains the time
when the earthquakes occurred?
Based on this
information, go back to your map and examine the time when the three
earthquakes occurred. List the earthquakes below in the order of their
occurrence.
63) Were these two large earthquakes associated with the
same seismic event? Explain your answer.
64) What is an aftershock?
65) Do you think the earthquakes you are examining
are evidence of an aftershock? If so, which
earthquake was an aftershock of the first? Why?
66) Notice the “feature search radius settings”
near the bottom of the Global GIS Tools window.
Drag a new search
radius – a circle -- from these two earthquakes until the circle just touches
the Pacific coastline. This should be a
20 kilometer search radius, and the number 13 should appear in the kilometers
field.
Generate a map
report 
and click on the earthquake on the map
again. Print the map report of this area.
67) Summarize in your own words what this report tells you.
You need to
assess possible damage from future earthquakes in this region in your report,
in terms of roads, airports, and population.
68) What is the 1998 population within 20 km of
these earthquakes?
69) Who, in your opinion, are the most
vulnerable segments of the population to earthquakes? Old people?
Young people? Rural people? Urban people?
70) Turn on the roads
layer. How far is the nearest road from the earthquakes?
71) Do you think roads could be damaged by
earthquakes? Name three ways roads
could be damaged.
72) How could the disruption of transportation
affect evacuation from an earthquake and rescue operations?
73) What is the name of the nearest airfield to
these earthquakes? How far is it from
the earthquakes?
74) Do you think an airfield could be damaged by
an earthquake? Describe three ways air
services could be disrupted.
75) Congratulations! You have completed the second part of your mission and have
contributed much to the understanding of earthquakes in Europe. Indicate what you consider to be the most
surprising thing you have learned in this part, the most interesting thing, and
the most significant thing.
Most surprising:
Most interesting:
Most significant:
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▬▬▬▬ Part 3: Investigating Earthquakes in Iceland
In this part of
the unit, you
will investigate earthquakes in Iceland,
assess critical infrastructure, and assess the relationship of earthquakes to
fault lines.
Make themes you
have been working with the active theme by clicking once on it. Use
shift-click to select multiple themes. Clear any previous selections .
76) Describe the pattern of earthquakes in Iceland.
77) Why does Iceland experience so many earthquakes?
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in Iceland on 21 June 2000. Visit this page:
http://www.os.is/skjalfti/index_e_21.html
and click on Pictures.
78) After viewing the pictures, make three observations about the type of damage that this earthquake caused.
79) How severe would you say this earthquake was? Why?
Find this earthquake by its date and magnitude in your GIS, as follows.
Open the earthquake table .
Query 
the table by asking for the earthquake at
-20.758 (the minus sign indicates west longitude). Be sure to enter the information
by clicking on the field names and equals sign.
Zoom to the
earthquake at a scale of 1:3,000,000. The scale is in the upper
right of the map. You can type in the exact scale as 3000000 if you wish
in the scale box.
80) In what part of Iceland did this
earthquake occur?
81) What direction from Reykjavik
was this
earthquake’s epicenter?
82) Use the measure tool
answer the following. How far was the
epicenter from Reykjavik?
83) Discuss how
an earthquake occurring many miles from Reykjavik might have
caused damage in that city.
Earlier, you
considered the disruption that earthquakes pose to critical
infrastructure. Turn on the airfields theme and name the nearest airfield
to the earthquake.
84) Use the measure tool to measure the distance to this airfield.
85) What
city is the airport associated with?
86) Have you ever flown into this airport? Ask to find out if any of your classmates
have flown into this airport.
87) Make roads, railroads, and utility lines
visible. Make at least four observations about the proximity of these
features to the earthquake.
88) Have other earthquakes occurred in this area
of Iceland, or was the June 2000 earthquake an isolated case?
89) Turn on the Faults layer and discuss the
relationship between earthquakes in this part of Iceland and fault lines.
90) Based on your investigations, indicate in
your report to the USGS what you consider to be the two main reasons why this
earthquake in June 2000 caused more damage than others in this
area.
91) Do some research on this earthquakes in
Iceland and indicate your findings below.
92) How does your research enhance what you
learned about Iceland earthquakes through GIS?
Next, you will examine
faults in relationship to earthquakes throughout Europe.
Turn off all
themes except faults, earthquakes, and the shaded
relief base.
Zoom out to all
of Europe using the globe symbol on the Global GIS Tools menu.
It is difficult
to detect the relationship of earthquakes and faults, because of the large
number of earthquakes. Reduce this
number by clicking on “earthquake tools” in your Global GIS window. Show magnitudes between 6 and 9, as follows:
93) Describe the relationship between fault
lines and earthquakes. Consider these
questions in your narrative: Do
earthquakes usually, or always occur near fault lines? Do earthquakes ever occur away from fault
lines? If so, where? Do you think this map shows ALL of the
faults in Europe, or just a few?
How does this affect your answer?
94) Turn on earthquakes between 4 and 9, instead
of 6 and 9. Does this affect your
answer, above? Why or why not?
95) Turn on cities. Discuss the relationship between cities and fault lines for your
report to the USGS.
96) Congratulations! You have completed the third part of the assignment and have
contributed much to the understanding of earthquakes in Europe. Indicate what you consider to be the most
surprising thing you have learned in this part, the most interesting thing, and
the most significant thing.
Most surprising:
Most interesting:
Most significant:
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▬▬▬▬ Part 4: A Historical Earthquake: Lisbon 1755
On 1 November 1755, Lisbon, Portugal was shaken by a large earthquake just offshore.97) Zoom to Portugal and Lisbon. What body of water did the earthquake occur in?
Make the major cities theme active. Open the
major cities table
and use the find button (looks like a binoculars) to search for
Lisbon. Click in the row
containing Lisbon to select it.
98) What is the population
Close the table. In the Global GIS Tools box, on the right side of Viewing Tools,
go to "More Tools." Select the
"Zoom to Select in the Global GIS Tools box:
99) In what part of Portugal is Lisbon?
100) Where did most earthquakes occur in Portugal and offshore from 1970 to 1994, according to your map?
101) How far was the closest earthquake to Lisbon from 1970 to 1994, what direction was it from Lisbon, and how large was it?
102) How many above magnitude 4 earthquakes occurred within 50 kilometers from Lisbon from 1970 to 1994?
103) Make two observations about the relationship of fault lines to earthquakes in Portugal.
In 1755, Lisbon was not only a city of 250,000 people, but the capital of the global Portuguese empire. It was one of the most important cities in Europe. Although Portugal had been hit by earthquakes in years past, it had been 200 years since the last major earthquake. The quake hit at 9:40 AM on All Souls Day. People died in three ways. First, many buildings collapsed, burying those inside and on the street outside.
Eighty-five percent of Lisbon's buildings were destroyed, including its famous palaces, the brand-new Opera House, and a 70,000-volume library. The earthquake destroyed also the major churches of Lisbon, and the Royal Hospital of All-Saints.
Second, the quake triggered a tsunami, which arrived soon afterwards. The survivors rushed to the open space of the docks for safety and watched as the water receded, revealing the sea floor, littered by lost cargo and old shipwrecks. The wave may have been 50 feet high.
104) From what direction did the tsunami come from?
Ships, docks and buildings in the city were battered by the high seas, and thousands were swept away. Third, lamps and cooking fires upset in the earthquake ignited a fire that proved impossible to control. It burned unchecked for three days, completing the destruction.
105) In all, perhaps 60,000 to 90,000 people died in the disaster in Lisbon alone. What percentage of the city's population were killed?
Thousands more died in other areas. The quake was felt throughout Western Europe.
106) Examine your map. What is the likely other country in Europe where people probably died as a result of this earthquake?
People also died in the northwest part of another continent.
107) Examine your map. What is the likely other continent where people were killed from this earthquake?
108) Consider the population of Lisbon in 1755 and today, and the population of Lisbon compared to other cities in Portugal. Would you say that Lisbon overcame this tragedy? Why or why not?
Read Rev. Charles Davy's account on:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1755lisbonquake.html
109) Does this account match what you have learned about the Lisbon earthquake? Where would you have tried to escape to if you were caught in this earthquake?
Zoom back to Europe. Now that you have examined a historically significant earthquake, it is time to examine a modern-day earthquake.
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▬▬▬▬ Part 5: A Modern-Day Earthquake: Turkey 1999
Zoom to Turkey and Greece. On Tuesday 17 August 1999, an earthquake struck the province of Kocaeli in Turkey.
110) What three major bodies of water are near Greece and Turkey?
111) Compare the seismic activity of this area to others you have examined so far, such as Iceland and Portugal.
The earthquake was 7.4 in magnitude. According to the USGS report, http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2000/c1193/c1193.pdf, the earthquake caused 17,127 deaths, 43,953 injuries, and damaged about 250,000 homes and businesses.
112) Compare the magnitude of this earthquake with others in the region. Was this earthquake larger than any earthquake in the region from 1970 to 1994?
113) Compare the magnitude of this earthquake with all others in the data set. Was this earthquake larger than any earthquake in the data set from 1970 to 1994?
114) Make two observations about the relationship of fault lines to earthquakes in Turkey.
The earthquake's epicenter was: 40.70 North Latitude, 29.91 East Longitude. Go to this spot on your map.
115) What is the closest major city to the epicenter?
116) What other major cities might have been affected by the earthquake?
117) How far was the closest earthquake to the 1999 earthquake, according to your map, from 1970 to 1994, what direction was it from the 1999 quake, and how large was it?
118) How many above magnitude 4 earthquakes occurred within 50 kilometers from the 1999 earthquake from 1970 to 1994?
Use the select feature button 
to draw a box that
is approximately 50 kilometers around the
epicenter. After
selecting the earthquakes, access the table .
119) How many other earthquakes have occurred in this region?
120) How far is the nearest major fault to the earthquake epicenter?
121) Which is the closest airfield to the epicenter, in what direction is it, and how far away is it?
122) Generate a search radius,
and drag a circle on the map with the Turkey
epicenter as your starting point, as follows:
Next, generate a
report
for this earthquake's location. Print the report and make at least five
observations for your report for the USGS about the vulnerability this
area—its population, roads, airfields, dams, and other critical infrastructure.
123) Think about what you have studied thus far. Would you say that a major earthquake is more likely to occur in Iceland, Portugal, or Turkey? Why?
Now that you have investigated major earthquakes, you will now turn your attention to your own community. If you don't live in Europe, turn select an area that you are interested in.
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Part 6: Investigating Your Community
In this part, the
USGS needs you to report on your own community’s vulnerability to earthquakes.
Make the themes
you have been working with the active theme by clicking once on it. Use
shift-click to select multiple themes.
Clear any previous selections using the clear selection tool .
Zoom to the country where you go to school.
If you do not live in Europe, then select a country and
then a city or community in which you are interested.
Make earthquakes
the active theme by single clicking on it.
Label 
the magnitudes of the earthquakes.
124) What country and community have you selected?
125) Describe what you consider to be the major
natural hazards faced by your community, your
country, and what rank you consider earthquakes to
be in this list of hazards.
126) Describe the pattern and the number of
earthquakes in your chosen country, region, and community.
127) Use the select feature button to draw a box around the earthquakes that are
in your chosen area. After
selecting the earthquakes, access the table . Look in the box in the upper left that
indicates how many earthquakes are selected.
How many earthquakes occurred in your selected region? Include a description of how much land you
included in your selection box in your answer.
128)
How do the pattern and number of earthquakes
in your area compare to what you learned earlier about the pattern and number
of earthquakes in Iceland?
Examine the
earthquake map theme legend.
129) What is the range (minimum and maximum) of
earthquakes that you are examining?
In the Global GIS
Tools box, select the Earthquake Tool.
Click the
"Show Magnitudes Between Min and Max" button and set the minimum
magnitude to 6 and the maximum to 9. Press "Reset Mag Range" to
reset the map, as follows:
130
) Where do most of the large (at least magnitude 6) earthquakes occur?131) Do the large earthquakes have the same
pattern of occurrence in Europe as those that you examined earlier that
included magnitude 4 and 5 earthquakes? Why or why not?
Zoom closer to
your own community at a scale of approximately 1:700,000.
132) Now that you know how to move to specific
earthquakes, generate a search radius, as follows:
Next, generate a
report ,
generate a report for the earthquake nearest your community. Print the report and make at least five
observations for your report for the USGS about the vulnerability of your own
area—its population, roads, airfields, dams, and other critical infrastructure.
133) Describe the earthquake nearest your chosen community: Indicate the location of
your community, the direction from your school, the date it
occurred, the magnitude, the depth, and the time of day it occurred.
134) Does anything surprise you about the
earthquake event? Do you remember the
earthquake? Did it cause any damage? Ask someone in your community to determine
if they remember it; if you can find someone, indicate their response. If not, do some research on the earthquake
and report the findings.
135) Congratulations! You have completed this part of the assignment and are
contributing much to the understanding of earthquakes in Europe. Indicate what you consider to be the most
surprising thing you have learned in this part, the most interesting thing, and
the most significant thing.
Most surprising:
Most interesting:
Most significant:
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Part 7: Earthquakes Everyday
In this part, you
will examine earthquakes by country in Europe, and compare recent
earthquakes to your existing data.
Make the themes
you have been working with the active theme by clicking once on it. Use
shift-click to select multiple themes.
Clear any previous selections using the clear selection tool .
Make political
boundaries and political boundary labels visible by checking the small boxes to
the left of the theme names.
136) What country will you list in your report to
the USGS that appears to suffer the most earthquakes?
137) Name two reasons, based on your observations
of the map, why more earthquakes occur in this country than any other.
Make countries visible.
138) Change the legend from magnitude that you
have been analyzing to examine the depth (“km” field) of earthquakes. Do this by double-clicking on the theme name to pull up the
legend editor. Change the field name to
depth, as follows:
Use this new
legend by clicking on Apply.
Your new map rep
resents the depth under Earth’s surface at which the movement occurred, in kilometers underneath the surface.139) Describe the pattern of the depth of the
earthquakes and their distribution across Europe.
140) Is there a relationship between magnitude
and depth? Why or why not?
141) What is the relationship between magnitude
to the plate boundaries? Why? You may need a reference for plate
boundaries on a map, in a textbook, or on the Internet.
142) What is the relationship between depth and
the plate boundaries? Why?
143) Are certain
types of plate boundaries associated with certain earthquake magnitudes and
depth? Summarize what you know and can
find out about this topic.
Minimize your GIS
session.
Open a web browser. Access the USGS
National Earthquake Information Center. This is the site in Golden, Colorado USA, that
collects seismic information from all over the world.
Select "Current Worldwide Earthquake List."
144) Examine this list. How many days does
this information cover?
145) Does the number of earthquakes surprise
you? Why or why not?
146) Are you familiar with any of these
earthquakes? Did you hear about any of
them on the radio, the newspaper, or on the Internet?
147) How many earthquakes appear in the
list? [a]
148) How many earthquakes occur each day? Show how you determined the answer.
149) Examine the information about the list on
the USGS earthquake web site. Does the list
indicate ALL recorded earthquakes, or just the major ones? What is the cutoff criterion?
150) What percentage of earthquakes in the list
occurred in Europe? Show how you
determined your answer.
151) Does the pattern of new earthquakes in Europe
fit the pattern you have been analyzing using your GIS tools and
methods? Why or why not?
152) Indicate at least three things that you have
learned about earthquakes in Europe from this lesson to this point.
153) Indicate at least three things that you have
learned about GIS in this lesson to this point.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
▬▬▬▬ Part
8: Analyzing Recent Earthquakes
Only users who
have a full version of ArcView can continue with this section.
In this part, you
will incorporate the recent earthquakes as recorded on the USGS National
Earthquake Information Center into your GIS so that you can further analyze
them.
On the following site:
You will notice choices at the end of the current earthquakes list. Select "comma-delimited earthquake list" to see it in the web browser window.
At the bottom of the current
list, select "Comma-delimited Earthquake List" indicated on the image
below:
Using File, Save
As, save the resulting file that appears in the list as a plain text file
(not HTML, MS Word, or anything else) in an appropriate folder on your
computer named "current.txt" as follows:
Back in your GIS session, access the project window as follows:
Window--> Select the APR file:
Click once on
Tables in the project window. Click Add. 154) What kind of file did you save above (.dbf,
INFO, or .txt?) ___________[b]. 155) In the lower left of the window, change the
field to your answer in [b].
Find
your your text
file in your folder and click OK. Your table name
should now appear in the list of tables along with a window with the data. Go to the Window
pull down menu. Click on the view
window to make it active. This window
should be named “Europe GIS.” Go to the View
menu on the top and select Add Event Theme. Find your table current.txt. Think of the
Cartesian coordinate system from mathematics.
Draw it below. 156) Which field is “x” - longitude or latitude? 157) Which field is “y” - longitude or latitude? In the dialog
box, indicate the correct fields for latitude and longitude based on your
answers above. Make the new
theme appear by clicking on the small check box next to it. 158) Access the table. 159) How does this answer compare to your answer
in [a] above? Why? 160) How does the spatial extent of the current
earthquakes compare to the spatial extent of the Europe data? Why? 161) Compare the pattern of earthquakes over the
past week to the earthquakes from Europe dataset. How many
earthquakes last week were in Europe? 162) Do the new earthquakes follow the existing
pattern? Why or why not? 163) Create a print of your map. All the
information you wish to include in the final plot will be in a
"layout." Zoom to your state or region. Determine which themes you would like shown
in your plot. Click on View --
> Layout. Use the “T”
button Type in text. You
should include the following items for your final map: Your name(s). Title of Map. Date the map was created. Print your layout
to a printer by accessing: File-->
Print. 164) Save your project using Fileà Save As.
Place it in an appropriate folder. What is your project’s name? GIS allows for
spatial data to be viewed in different map projections. Next, you will change the projection of your
data so that you can examine Europe's earthquakes from the west
coast. Change the
“projection” under View-->Properties to a custom orthographic
projection, with a central meridian of 15 east longitude and a reference
latitude of 50 degrees north. Using this new
projection, answer the following questions. 165) How does
this compare to your old projection? 166) Scroll your
mouse in the view. Are the coordinates in the upper right still in latitude and
longitude? Why or why not? 167) Congratulations! You have completed this part of the assignment and have
contributed much to the understanding of earthquakes in Europe. Indicate what you consider to be the most significant
thing you have learned in this part of
the lesson. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ▬▬▬▬ Part
9: Earthquakes Respect No Boundaries In this part, you
will determine how many earthquakes occurred in each country through advanced
GIS investigations. Make themes you
have been working with the active theme by clicking once on it. Use shift-click
to select multiple themes. Clear any
previous selections 168) What country in
Europe do you think has the most earthquakes? Make countries (political boundaries) the active theme by
single-clicking on it. Use the select feature button Make earthquakes the
active theme by single clicking on it. Under the Theme
pull-down menu, press "Select By Theme" to discover how many
earthquakes intersect the selected features of
political boundaries. The "selected features of countries" is
simply your selected county. Click New Set when finished. Access the table for earthquakes. 169) How many earthquakes occurred
within your country? 170) If you think there is a country with more
earthquakes than the one you chose, repeat the above procedure for a different
country. Repeat the above procedure for France. 171) How many earthquakes occurred in France? Repeat the above procedure for the United
Kingdom. 172) How many earthquakes occurred in the United
Kingdom? 173) Compare the number of earthquakes for at least
3 countries in Europe. The next section can only be completed by users with
the full ArcView software package. Clear all selections from all datasets. The USGS says
they need to focus research on the countries that contained the most
earthquakes from 1973-1994. How will you find this
information? To solve this problem, first examine the table associated
with the earthquakes 
How many earthquake epicenters are in your
view? 
to add text to your layout. . and select the country (click inside the
country) that you think contains the most earthquakes. This is the number of earthquakes
that occurred within your chosen country. .
174) Does this table indicate which country the
earthquakes occurred in?
Therefore, you
need to join the country information from the administrative boundaries file to
the earthquakes data so that you can determine which earthquakes were inside
each country.
Go to the
File-->Extensions menu.
Add the
“GeoProcessing” extension. This adds a choice to the “view” menu.
Access the
geoprocessing extension by pulling down: View--> GeoProcessing
Wizard. This is the new menu choice that you added by accessing the
geoprocessing extension.
Go to:
Assign Data by Location, and click Next.
Next: Assign data to earthquakes from administrative boundaries.
175) Examine the earthquakes table.
What new fields have been added?
Click on the
field “admin_name”.
Go to Field
--> Summarize. Give the resulting
file and appropriate name (such as quakesbyadminarea.dbf) and location and click
“OK”. Do not fill out anything else in
the dialog box.
Examine your new
table. Sort the table on “count”.
176) What does the count in the FIRST row of the
summary table represent?
177) Compare the number of earthquakes under water versus the number on land. Show your work.
178) Which administrative area had the most
earthquakes? Why?
179) Does this match what you expected? Why or why not?
180) How many were there in that administrative
area?
181) Go to the map and access the administrative
boundaries theme. Find out where this
country is, name the country, and indicate the pattern of earthquakes there.
Go back to your
quakesbyadminarea table.
182) What administrative area in Spain experienced
the most earthquakes?
183) Which administrative area in Romania experienced
the most earthquakes?
184) What administrative areas in the
Mediterranean Sea experienced the most earthquakes? Why?
185) Were any administrative areas without earthquakes? Why? Include in your answer how you found out this information.
Examine the earthquakes table
again .
Click on the
field “cntry_name”.
Go to Field
--> Summarize. Give the resulting
file and appropriate name (such as quakesbycountry.dbf) and location and click
“OK”. Do not fill out anything else in
the dialog box.
Examine your new
table. Sort the table on “count”.
186) What does the count in the FIRST row of the
summary table represent?
187) Compare the number of earthquakes under water versus the number on land. Show your work.
188) Which country had the most earthquakes? Why?
189) Does this match what you expected? Why or why not?
190) Describe the pattern of earthquakes in that country.
191) What country would you say has the greatest density of earthquakes? Is it the same as the country with the most earthquakes? Why or why not?
192) Which country had the second most earthquakes?
193) Describe the pattern of earthquakes in that country.
194) Indicate the top 10 countries for earthquakes in Europe:
195) Does this table indicate ALL of the earthquakes for Russia? Why or why not? Think about the continents that Russia is located in.
196) Were any countries without earthquakes? Why? Include in your answer how you found out this information.
Save your
project, close your project, and exit ArcView.
197) Congratulations! You have completed the assignment and are ready to submit your
results to the USGS. You have
contributed much to the understanding of earthquakes in Europe. Indicate what you consider to be the most
surprising thing you have learned in this part, the most interesting thing, and
the most significant thing.
Most surprising:
Most interesting:
Most significant:
198) Indicate at least three things that you have
learned about earthquakes in Europe from this lesson to this point.
199) Indicate at least three things that you have
learned about GIS in this lesson to this point.
200) Give a presentation on earthquakes in Europe
to your class, school, or community group. Include in your presentation:
(1)--Why
earthquakes are a serious international natural hazard.
(2)--Where
earthquakes occur in Europe
(3)--The
relationship of cities, volcanoes, fault lines, and other features to
earthquake epicenters
(4)--How
GIS can aid in analyzing earthquakes and other spatial phenomena.
(5)--What
you think the national and international community should do about earthquake
preparedness.
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
URL:http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov /public/outreach/globalgis/europe//earthquakes_europe.html
Last modified: 15 April 2004