All Links

Earthquake statistics.

An interactive online exhibit of information, maps, images, and personal accounts from the 1906 earthquake and fire.

An ArcGIS geonarrative Storymap describing the three earthquakes along the subduction zone off the south coast of Alaska in 2020 and 2021.

Science for Everyone article

How to prepare your business for an earthquake

Plain-language summary of a 2018 research paper.

Answer questions on a quiz and learn about the seismic safety of your house, apartment building, or mobile home.

Information and maps about liquefaction, faults, and landslides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

basics about earthquakes

Emergency response organization that provides disaster relief

View planet Earth at any time in the past 750 million years. Rotate the globe and zoom in and out. Shows how the tectonic plates have moved over time.

Can animals predict earthquakes? Can they sense shaking that humans can't. What are the facts about animals and earthquakes?

Flash animations illustrating basic earthquake terms and concepts.

A Science for Everyone article: In a win-win situation for both seismologists and space physicists, a cheap magnetometer at a seismic station can result in better seismic data for earthquakes and also more geomagnetic data in real time for monitoring space weather.

What does the science say? Where does the information come from? And what does it mean? Investigating past earthquakes to inform the future.

Activities and materials aimed at making kids more aware of hazard preparedness

What does a geophysicist do? What do you need to study in school to become a geophysicist? What are the opportunities?

brief description of the origin of the Himalaya Mountains

Brief description of history of seismology

Wonderful diverse collection of videos and animations, as well as links to lesson plans and educational resources.

Focus on the California

A photographic field trip to classic subduction-related rocks across northern California.

Could a large damaging tsunami happen in the United States?

This collection of 21 earthquake-related sounds, prepared by Karl V. Steinbrugge, was originally published in BSSA vol. 64, no. 5 in 1974 and updated with eight additional sounds in 1985. You can listen to individual sounds below by clicking the play button in the audio player next to the recording number, or you can download a Zip file containing MP3 audio files of all the sounds. Most of recorded on the inside of different buildings but some are from outside. (Compiled by Karl V. Steinbrugge)

Earthquakes and other emergencies

Information about earthquakes in the central U.S.

Teachers guide to helping children deal with disasters

Details on the rupture of the two earthquakes, the shaking distribution, aftershock zone, estimated fatality numbers, and comparisons between the two.

Educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

A plain language article about subduction zone models and how they help us understand large earthquakes.

Short news piece with images

How do we know that continents are still moving?

fascinating earthquake facts

Educational slides for the M8.3 Coquimbo, Chile M8.3 earthquake.

Two of the first questions that come to mind for anyone who just felt an earthquake are, ?Will there be another one?? and ?Will it be larger??.

Information about creep on faults, and specifically the Hayward fault.

Educational slideset for the 09/03/2010 Darfield, New Zealand Earthquake and its Aftershocks, Including the 02/21/2011 Christchurch Event.

An ArcGIS geo-narrative storymap that describes how scientists can learn about the approximate time and magnitude of past earthquakes by looking at how they are "recorded" in the sediments under the surface of the Earth.

demonstrations with photos and graphics

brief discussion on depths of earthquakes

Follow the daily activities of a team of geologists and paleoseismologists as they dig a trench and collect data on the Teton Fault. (from a fieldwork blog September 15-21, 2017)

Searchable database of educational earth science resources for all grade levels.

Steps and checklists to help care for pets during emergencies.

Access to disaster help and resources.

Portal for teachers and students for learn the basics about earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, topography, and sea level changes.

Animation clips and other geo-educational items

Plate tectonics basics.

Professor Steve Dutch's excellent online resources for earth sciences with great images for teaching; all the goodies are behind the "Notes" links

a wealth of excellent hands-on activities for teaching about earthquakes, volcanoes, seismic waves, plate tectonics, earth structure, seismic waves, convection, seismometers and more!

virtual museum

Details about what parts of the home are most vulnerable and how you can protect yourself (PDF)

Deadly earthquakes, damaging EQs, EQ density maps, world and US statistics, historical EQ lists, largest EQ lists, last EQ in..., significant EQ catalogs, seismicity maps of the world and US.

Focus on Seaside, OR, but useful for anyone within a tsunami risk zone.

An examination of strange and unexplained sounds that are sometimes heard accompanying earthquakes.

Earthquake preparedness for California

The goal of an earthquake early warning (EEW) system is to provide an alert to people and automatic systems after an earthquake begins but before the shaking reaches their location. As the USGS and its partners are developing an EEW system, called ShakeAlert®, for the West Coast, the benefits, costs, capabilities, and limitations are being investigated. Two recent studies explored the timeliness and accuracy of alerts.

The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive is a database of significant, publicly-funded research and development literature, photographs, data, and software in earthquake, structural, and geotechnical engineering. It includes full text for EERC, SEMM, and PEER reports published at UC Berkeley, the NISEE software library, and images from EQIIS.

Companion to "Earthquakes, Megaquakes, and the Movies"

Videos from webcams, security cameras, and newsreels during the shaking from various earthquakes.

How the size of an earthquake is measured. The differences and relationships between magnitude, energy, and fault size is discussed and shown with images.

Do you know what's fact and fiction when it comes to earthquakes? Is there really such a thing as "earthquake weather"? Do you know what to do to stay safe when the ground starts shaking? Caltech scientists debunk some of the most common myths surrounding seismic events on this video.

online quiz

Technical paper

Focus on California Earthquake Preparedness for Teachers and Students

online quiz

A series of short articles for students, teachers, and parents originally published as weekly features in The San Francisco Chronicle. This USGS General Information Product presents some of the new understanding gained and scientific advances made in the century since the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

A timeline showing the evolution of earthquake science and seismometers through the ages to present.

general overview of earthquakes, online USGS general interest publication

PodCasts, presentations and fact sheets on the basics of earthquakes.

Information on the basics of earthquakes.

PDF format of a complete PowerPoint show for the basics

links related to subjects covered in book

Research, regulations, updates and news items related to Oklahomaâ??s recent earthquakes, and earthquake preparedness information

discussion about facts versus fantasies

links to photos of earthquake effects and tsunami effects

Animations, online lectures, visualizations and more, mostly from IRIS.

Este manual provee información sobre por qué nos deben preocupar los terremotos en el Sur de California, qué debemos hacer para estar seguros y reducir el daño, y también qué debemos saber de lo básico sobre terremotos.

Education resources using geodetic data, GPS and visualization tools.

General information about disaster preparedness for schools with links to resources.

Collection of interrelated learn concepts that focuses on finding the evidence for plate tectonics using digital resources, education standards, and comprehensive lesson plans.

4 videos: Building the Planet, Shaping the Planet, Assembling America, A Human World

lots of resources, information, activities and graphics concerning earthquakes in California

Photos and graphics of fault types

US federal government agency dedicated to responding to disasters.

Humanitarian organization that carries out relief efforts to assist victims of disasters.

Includes resources and best practices

Learn the best ways to provide for your pets during an emergency

Basic explanation for what a focal mechanism is, and how to interpret them.

Virtual fly-over of the Garlock fault. Will download a .mov file.

Virtual tours of different earth features using Google Earth.

New high-resolution lidar data reveals cracks produced from strong shaking in past earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone.

geologic time scale, plate tectonics animation, and more!

animations of various types

Animations of geological processes.

solve a crime, and then use those same skills to understand the Law of Superposition (older layers of the earth on bottom) with a fun Geology Detectives investigation, and then use your skills to solve a geological mystery.

list of online course resources for undergraduate and graduate levels

A plethora a resources, including lesson plans, classroom science activities, curriculum materials, image collections, presentations, videos and animations, virtual field trips, etc.

easy tool for non-seismologists to retrieve, display and analyze seismic data

Simulations (videos) from computer models of earthquakes showing the resulting ground shaking.

Old-fashioned interviews are compared to Did You Feel It? responses for this earthquake.

A description of the potential effects of earthquakes on groundwater and wells.

A good resource for educators that includes lesson plans, info on state standards, awards, and reading suggestions

Interactive story map with 62 field trip stops for exploring the Hayward Fault in the East San Francisco Bay Area of California.

The basics of how the USGS National Earthquake Hazard Maps are made.

The goal of the Pacific Tsunami Museum is to promote public tsunami education for the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Region. The museum will also preserve the social and cultural history of Hawaii and promote economic development on the island of Hawaii as well as statewide. The museum will serve as a living memorial to those who lost their lives in past tsunami events.

collection of historical earthquake theories and myths

Paleoseismology along the Wasatch Fault in Utah is helping to estimate the shaking risk to nearby towns.

Discussion of earthquake magnitudes from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program.

Description of the basics

Houses and short buildings shake differently than tall buildings.

Actions you can take to prepare your home for the shaking from an earthquake.

A Science for Everyone article: Can a deep-learning approach perform better than NEIC?s traditional methods to get more accurate earthquake locations and magnitudes? The NEIC monitoring system is a perfect candidate for deep learning because it processes large amounts of data.

wholistic view of the effects and response to the Haiti earthquake, both scientific and societal

Uses the USGS Earthquake Catalog API. Search for earthquakes, and then interact with the 3-D earthquake location viewer. There is a classroom activity for 5-8th grades to accompany this.

An interactive geonarrative (Esri story map) about the four Intermountain West earthquakes. Learn more about these quakes and the historic earthquakes in this part of the western U.S. This immersive experience (best viewed on a computer) includes maps, photos from the field and links to journal papers, earthquake event pages, data and more.

General and technical information, maps, and links to warning centers.

An amazing collection of excellent education resources for all aspects of earthquakes and seismology with great images!

A multitude of educational resources for earthquake science, from visualizations and animations, to lessons and educational software. Awesome!

Seven-week debate involving many authors and their views

an interactive map tool that enables students and scientists to better understand the relationships between geophysical and geological processes, structures, and measurements with high-precision GPS data. These are Javascript based tools.

cut a large world map into puzzle pieces along plate boundaries, students discuss individually land then for the whole map after the class puts pieces together; simple but powerful, discussion Q/A included

An ArcGIS geonarrative storymap explaining the impacts of sea-level rise on liquefaction severity around the San Francisco Bay Area, California for the magnitude 7.0 ?HayWired? earthquake scenario along the Hayward Fault.

music and earthquakes have something in common!

A Science for Everyone article: If you want to listen to the softest whispers of the Earth, the South Pole is where you want to be. Seismic station, QSPA has been allowing us to eavesdrop on the Earth for over six decades, and it may soon gain the equivalent of hearing aids.

7 lessons with the goal of teaching students about how and why earthquakes cause damage. Explores seismic waves, the ability of scientists to predict the likelihood and severity of earthquakes at specific locations, the difference between magnitude and intensity, the occurrence of earthquakes along patches of planar faults, and the potential damage caused by earthquakes such as landslides, liquefaction, or structural failure.

A collection of preparedness guides for earthquakes and tsunamis especially for the Northern Coast of California

This guide and many other preparedness-related information especially for Nevada.

A large shallow earthquake moves Mt. Everest 3 cm southwest.

classroom lesson to teach the difference between earthquake magnitude and earthquake intensities (8.3MB PDF)

A description of the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

Push your mouse around to move continents and change the landscape

Factsheet and brochure on tsunami awareness and safety.

resources concerning hazards mitigation and disaster preparedness

Data, images, kids quizzes, and maps from geologic hazards as well as slide shows available for order

(17MB PDF)

600 references related to the New Mardrid earthquakes of 1811-1812.

A collection of information about the region, the historical seismicity, and the hazards.

A plain-language summary of new paleoseismology methods for studying and dating past earthquakes from trench data.

How paleoseismology is revealing information about the Hayward fault and its past. New technology being used. Photos from the Tule Pond trench on the Hayward fault.

What is paleoseismology? How does it work?

Excellent collection of downloadable papers

Earthquake education in the global Persian community.

The basics including plate tectonics and earthquakes.

Be prepared: make a plan and prepare a disaster kit for your pet.

photos

The Pillowcase Project is designed for use with 3rd graders, age 8-9. The program has been reviewed by 3rd grade teachers and tailored to 3rd grade reading skills and learning abilities. The program may be adapted for use with students in 2nd and 4th grade.

Interactive tutorial with easy-to-understand images and some multi-media.

excellent presentation with vivid graphics

Games, quiz

Links to preparedness information for earthquakes and tsunamis for Alaska residents.

A project to scan a small selection of the film chips of historical earthquake recordings to digital files was started in 1996. In addition to archiving historic data from the early years, the USGS has also worked to archive photos and descriptions of early seismometers.

Help ensure your pet's safety during an earthquake.

in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean

Earthquakes and preparedeness for everyone in California (regional booklets available), Utah, Central U.S., Nevada, Oregon, and Alaska

animations for various earth models and types of seismic reflections and refractions

Includes resources and best practices

list of books

What college students can do to prepare for a natural disaster, and what to do if one happens.

you are the planner, and you have to consider the earthquake hazards and risks

Storybooks and accompanying activity books, and videos that include simple activities for learning, for example, how to secure furniture and objects, what supplies should go in a go bag, basic earthquake science concepts, and how to Drop, Cover and Hold On during shaking or when you receive an earthquake early warningincludes simple activities for learning how to secure furniture and objects, what supplies should go in a go bag, basic earthquake science concepts, and how to Drop, Cover and Hold On during shaking or when you receive an earthquake early warning. In multiple languages.

virtual fly-over of the San Andreas Fault

overview of the San Andreas Fault, online USGS general interest publication

slick presentation of the earthquake basics with great graphics and animations

Many excellent resources for Public Education and Preparedness, K-14 Earthquake Education, and Experiential Learning and Career Advancement. Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country downloadable booklets for learning about earthquake hazards and safety recommendations in many different languages and for many different areas of the United States.

Online lesson plans with photos and images. Excellent geologic activities you can do anywhere! Education standards info included.

Whether you're an undergraduate faculty member or a K-12 science teacher our suite of partner projects have materials you can use today. Connect with a community of peers as they share what really works in their classrooms.

specific projects with directions and ideas

brief and basic earthquake science concepts

Three-dimensional, cut-and-paste paper model illustrating sea-floor spreading and subduction.

Description and history of seismic seiches.

Seismic Seiches from the March 1964 Alaska Earthquake

Basics about seismic waves with some good animations and images.

graphics to explain different types of seismic waves

demonstration on different types of seismic waves

Poster-sized map illustrating 119 years of global seismicity in the context of global plate tectonics and the Earth?s physiography. Primarily designed for use by earth scientists, engineers, and educators, this map provides a comprehensive overview of strong (magnitude [M] 5.5 and larger) earthquakes since 1900.

Creative visualizations of seismicity, seismic waves, ground motion. Learning units are also being added.

brief description on how seismographs work to locate earthquakes

How seismologists can use noise to see under the ground.

Educational page with seismo links, diagrams, animations, and other teaching resources.

online companion to the textbook by Seth Stein and Michael Wysession with electronic versions of all images and access to homework problems and solutions; also includes errata

measuring earthquakes, online USGS general interest publication

Preparedness information targeted at the San Francisco area.

Lessons, activities, and slide shows about earthquakes, volcanoes, and glaciers.

Legos and earthquakes

This video presents a visualization of how the Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska, shook during the M7.1 January 24, 2016, Iniskin, Alaska, earthquake. The building was instrumented by U.S. Geological Survey to obtain data to study its behavior and performance during strong shaking. Such data is useful to make decisions for improving the building's performance.

This video presents a visualization of shaking that was recorded in the Frontier Building in Anchorage, Alaska, during the Mw7.1 earthquake, January 24, 2016, Iniskin, Alaska.

A review of the history of the theory of plate tectonics.

How Can You Tell the Difference Between a Sonic Boom and an Earthquake on a Seismogram? Some Interesting Facts About Sonic Booms.

all things "earthquake" in southern California

A booklet that includes the "The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety" - basic guidelines for what to do before, during, and after a damaging earthquake.

a collection of geological field trips that take users to some of the world-class geological sites of the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1979, Clyde Wahrhaftig created a geology tour of the San Francisco Bay Area, which was updated and published by AGU as ?A Streetcar to Subduction and Other Plate Tectonic Trips by Public Transport in San Francisco" in 1984. Forty years later, as part of AGU's Centennial, the "Streetcar" tours have been revised, with new trips added, and old exposures that have vanished removed, taking what once was a print book and turning it into a digital experience through Google Earth.

USGS Open-File Report 98-767 (online)

Figures from the book "Tectonic Geomorphology" by Douglas W. Burbank and Robert S. Anderson

What is a splay fault, and how can they affect tsunamis?

An interactive geonarrative that explains the tectonic setting of Turkey, historical seismicity of Turkey from 1900, details on both the M 7.8 and M 7.5 earthquake sequences, kinematics of the earthquake rupture, remote sensing observations that show displacements across the active faults.

A Science for Everyone article: No one can predict earthquakes. But existing faults and past earthquakes give us information about future earthquakes, and geology tells us how the ground shakes during an earthquake.

A Science for Everyone article: One USGS scientist has sorted through the challenges, the claims, and the data to determine what the possibilities and limitations really are for EEW, and the results may surprise you.

A walk through the evolution of earthquake monitoring instruments.

An historial perspective from a history professor.

An ArcGIS geo-narrative storymap with compelling images showing the effects and consequences possible in the next large earthquake on the Hayward Fault in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Information about past earthquakes and current monitoring efforts.

Explains the mechanisms of tsunami generation and propagation.

Online companion to the NOVA broadcast with excellent animations, Q&anmp;A, images, and lesson plans for teachers.

online book on the science of earthquakes

This is the only book on the whole landscape of deep Earth processes that ties together all the strands of the subdisciplines. This book is a complete update of Andersonâ??s Theory of the Earth (1989).

excellent comprehensive overview of plate tectonics with excellent graphics, online USGS general interest publication

World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics

what happened today in earthquake history

Educational slides for the 2011 Tohoku,Japan M9.0 Earthquake.

Reconstructing an ancient Chinese seismograph, a simple wave machine, and investigating earthquake-proof buildings.

travel time graph for seismic waves

How much bigger is a magnitude 8.7 earthquake than a magnitude 5.8 earthquake?

Interactive presentation covering the science of tsunamis, preparedness, research, and historical tsunamis.

Links to educational materials, warning centers.

Information about tsunamis that may save your life. Material excerpted from "Tsunami! The Great Waves"

Downloadable PDF and additional links to tsunami preparedness websites.

Site provides general information about tsunamis, their causes and history as well as what to do in case of a tsunami.

Basics about tsunamis, information about preparedness, and links to additional resources.

Basic information about the basics of tsunamis.

short news piece with images

Basic science of tsunamis, preparedness, and focus on California and historical information.

Resources and information about tsunami education and preparedness.

Brief history of seismology to 1910, earthquake and plate tectonic quizzes, earthquake accounts by famous people, elastic rebound animation, and links to addition resources.

description, photos, and graphics of earthquake basics and effects of earthquakes in Turkey

learn about tsunamis with a model

magnitudes, research, locations, seismic waves, and all the basics explained, as well as preparedness and hazards

US agency set up to provide relief to other countries suffering from disaster

Science for Everyone article

you're the scientist, and you have to locate the earthquake and determine the magnitude

summary of earthquake hazards in Hawaii

Lots of great earth science lessons good for all ages, slide-style with color diagrams and photographs

Discover the geology of the San Andreas Fault through interpretive signs on this paved loop through meadows and along a stream lined with alders and willows at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Interactive online trail guide to Wallace Creek site on the San Andreas Fault

Science for Everyone article

Real videos of buildings shaking during real earthquakes, and some re-creations.

How will ShakeAlert® likely perform now on a large earthquake impacting a major urban area? How much warning will you get? To answer this, let?s do a thought experiment...

An ArcGIS geo-narrative storymap that describes what can be expected if there is a large earthquake in a populated urban area.