"Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction

"Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction

"Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 7 to 9
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.96

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		earthquake-free, probability, Seising, frequency, geologists, strains, occurrence, seismic, seismologists, magnitude, estimate, extremely, effective, fracture, strain, beginning
	content words:		United States Geological Survey, Rattle County, San Andreas, Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment

Print "Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction
edHelper.com subscriber options:

	Print "Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
	Quickly print reading comprehension
	Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on "Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction

Leave your feedback on "Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction (use this link if you found an error in the story)

"Seizing" Up the Quake: The Prediction
By Trista L. Pollard

¹     It starts with a thud and ends with the ground rolling beneath you. Anybody who has experienced an earthquake will tell you how it starts does not matter. You never forget the actual quake. Seismologists and geologists, however, take great interest in how earthquakes begin. Why you ask? It is the prediction of earthquakes that can help save lives and millions of dollars in property damage.

²     When seismologists try to predict earthquakes, their goal is to produce a warning system. If scientists can develop accurate and early warning systems, then people would be able to respond quickly. So who are the scientists who research future earthquakes? The United States Geological Survey (USGS) carries out research and supports other researchers who focus on the occurrence of future earthquakes. Scientists with this group conduct field and laboratory studies of earthquakes and fault zones. Their goal is to improve the probability estimates of earthquakes. To estimate earthquake probabilities, seismologists study the history of large earthquakes in specific areas. They also study the rate of strain or stress that accumulates along the fault zones.

³     Seismologists and geologists study the past frequency of large earthquakes. They can then use this information to predict the probability of similar large quakes in the future. Let us say that Rattle County, California, had four earthquakes that were magnitude 7.0 or higher during the last 200 years. If these earthquakes occurred randomly, scientists might say there is a 50% chance of another magnitude 7.0 quake during the next 50 years. However, other factors can influence the prediction of future earthquakes.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2008 edHelper