Have your students use this Google Map of a month of the globe’s Earthquake data to see how earthquakes are distributed by depth.  This is a great way to show how earthquakes are concentrated around plate boundaries (although plate boundaries are never shown).  The data also allows you to see the zoning of earthquakes across subduction zones.

Students can get access to the map using this link:

https://tinyurl.com/GEOetcEarthquakes

 

By clicking the menu icon in the top left corner of the map, you can see that the earthquake data has been put into three layers:

Shallow Earthquakes: Less than 70 km deep (light grey icons)

Medium Depth Earthquakes: Between 70 and 300 km deep (dark grey icons)

Deep Earthquakes: More than 300 km deed (black icons)

 

Activity ideas

  1.  Have your students explore the map and write down what they notice about earthquake patterns on Earth.
  2. Have students examine these three places and describe the depth of Earthquakes they find on the map (these are in a layer on the map called Locations to Discover):
      1. Hawaii
      2. South Atlantic Ocean
      3. Samoa
  3. Using a map showing the known Plate Boundaries, see if they can recognise the major plates as outlines by the earthquake data.

 

 

 

 

World Earthquakes by Depth – LD
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