Faultline: Seismic science at the Epicenter
Live earthquake data
Great San Francisco earthquakes
Earthquake basics
Mitigating earthquake damage
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LINK CATEGORIES
Plate Tectonics
Science Background
Seismic Wave Animations
Earthquake Sounds
1906 Accounts
1989 Accounts
Retrofit Your Home
Global Quake Information

 

 

 

 

Links to earthquake websites


**PLATE TECTONICS**

This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html
An on-line version of a USGS book (Also available as a PDF )

Plate History of Western North America
http://animations.geol.ucsb.edu/animations/quicktime/sm02Pac-NoAmflat.mov
Watch 38 million years of geology compacted into a minute-long animation showing how the movement of plates formed the western edge of North America.

Interactive Plate Tectonics
http://geology.com/plate-tectonics.shtml

A Google earth map is marked with tectonically interesting points that you can zoom in on to see land features.

Understanding Plate Motions
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/understanding.html#anchor15039288
USGS page with illustrations of events at plate boundaries.

Virtual Helicopter Tour of the Hayward Fault
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/research/geology/hf_map/GE_helicopter.htm
Download the free Google Earth application and see places in the East Bay that show evidence of creeping, shifting plates.

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**SCIENCE BACKGROUND**

Understanding Earthquakes
http://whyfiles.org/094quake/
The Why Files explains in depth about fault types, plate tectonics, and watching the San Andreas with new instruments.

Savage Earth
http://www.thirteen.org/savageearth/earthquakes/index.html
PBS-sponsored site about all things geological, with a section on earthquakes that includes many small animations of the different forces occurring at different kinds of faults and the motions of seismic waves.

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**SEISMIC WAVE ANIMATIONS**

Animations of Earthquake Waves
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/
visualizations/es1002/es1002page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization

Animations of P and S waves on this page show how they move through the earth differently.

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**EARTHQUAKE SOUNDS**

Listen to Earthquakes
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/info/listen/
From the USGS, a collection of earthquake sounds. Hear and download sounds from some recent quakes in California.

Sounds of the Parkfield Earthquake
http://www.cisn.org/special/evt.04.09.28/sounds.html
Hear what a quake sounds like from inside the San Andreas Fault.

Inner Earth, a Seismosonic Symphony
http://www.agnld.uni-potsdam.de/~shw/ABSTRACTS/ScherbaumSeismoSound/InnerEarth.html
What does the earth sound like, and how do we listen to it? Geophysicist Frank Scherbaum and composer Wolfgang Loos paired up to make music from real earthquake sounds. Dr. Scherbaum also has an extensive Web site about the relationship between music and seismology, called The Earth as a Musical Instrument .

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* *1906 ACCOUNTS**

The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/info/1906/
USGS site about the Great Quake, with seismology of the quake, eyewitness accounts, and other historical information.

USGS Shake Maps from the 1906 Quake
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1135/IntensityMaps.html

Films of San Francisco before and after the Quake
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/papr/sfhome.html
Film and sound from the Library of Congress American Memory collection.

The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/06.html
From the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, this online exhibition includes a register of people affected by the quake, a photo gallery, links to science and engineering reports, and many other accounts.

Photos and Maps from the USGS Report on the Earthquake
http://americahurrah.com/USGS/Index.htm
Along with photos, this site includes a map of the fires that followed the quake, as well as locations in the city where most brick buildings were located.

1906 Earthquake Photos
http://sfpl.org/news/earthquakephotos/
A collection of quake damage images including access to high resolution versions.

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**1989 ACCOUNTS**

Ten Years After
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999
/10/12/MN41QUA.DTL&type=earthquakes

A five-part series from the San Francisco Chronicle written for the 10th anniversary of the quake.

Selected Photographs from the USGS
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-29/
Download high resolution images of the Loma Prieta quake taken in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and other Bay Area cities.

Frequently Asked Questions from the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
http://seismo.berkeley.edu/faq/1989_0.html
Here's the science behind the quake: seismograms, shake maps, and a link to "Looking Back on Loma Prieta," an extensive review of the faulting and instruments used to study the quake.

On the Road with the Faultline Project
http://www.exploratorium.edu/faultline/project/start.html
Webcasts and other information from our 1999 Web site commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

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** RETROFIT YOUR HOME**

Ready or Not
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/10/13/HO73027.DTL
Why and how to retrofit your home, from the San Francisco Chronicle .

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country
Southern California edition
http://www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/
Northern California edition
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15/
Not just for Californians, but for anyone living in a quake zone. This comprehensive publication by the USGS and other agencies has information about retrofitting, preparedness kits, financial planning, and more. Read online, download the PDF, or order a paper copy.

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**GLOBAL QUAKE INFORMATION
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Japan Meteorological Agency
http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/menu.html
Current earthquake and volcano reports from Japan.

European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre
http://www.emsc-csem.org/index.php?page=home
Earthquake monitoring focused on the Central Asian region, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, and southern Europe.

Disaster Web Site of Andean Countries
http://www.disaster-info.net/PED-Sudamerica/

Organized by the World Health Organization, this site provides information about disaster response and preparedness in South America. In Spanish.

Geological Survey of Pakistan
http://www.gsp.gov.pk/
Information about geology and seismology of this very quake-prone region.

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