The document summarizes information about earthquakes, including how they are caused by movement of rock beneath the earth's surface. It describes the different types of seismic waves produced by earthquakes and discusses the major 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan. This earthquake, measured at magnitude 9.0, caused widespread damage through tsunamis, landslides and collapsed buildings. It severely impacted the Japanese economy by damaging factories and disrupting the auto industry, and also caused problems for nearby nuclear power plants.

1. Earthquakes Aubrey Meagher Brooklyn Jerzewski Mrs.Smith 5th Hour April 8, 2011

2. Basic Earthquake Information An earthquake is the shaking that results from the movement of rock beneath earth’s surface. Earthquakes are measured by magnitude Magnitude means the strength based on seismic waves.

3. Damage caused by earthquakes Earthquakes can cause landslides, tsunamis, and can knock down buildings.

4. Waves Earthquake waves are called seismic waves. Two types of seismic waves are surface waves and body waves. Two types of body waves are primary waves ( P- waves) and secondary waves( S- waves).

5. Body Waves P- waves travel at about 1 to 5 miles per second depending on the material it’s traveling through. S- waves come after P- waves. P- waves move faster than S- waves.

6. Elastic Rebound An elastic rebound is an explanation for how energy is spread during earthquakes.

7. The Tohoku Earthquake The earthquake occurred Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:46 pm at epicenter time. The quake occurred at 38.322 degrees north, 142.369 degrees east. The magnitude of this quake was 9.0, near the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan.

8. Effects on the Environment Tsunamis Landslides Buildings collapse The crust of the Earth can separate

9. Effects on the people of Japan Destroys homes Destroys work places Injures/kills people People missing

10. Effects on the economy of Japan Sony’s six factories in the region were affected by the earthquake No idea when Sony will re-open Assembly plants for Toyota, Honda, Nissan were closed The Japanese economy threatens to suffer another bout of recession Nuclear plants have problems

11. GPS Sensors One interesting fact about the earthquake in Japan is that it moved several GPS sensors. This will require all GPS sensors to be reset Certain things wouldn’t be there because of elastic rebound

12. Tsunamis An unusually large sea wave produced by a seaquake or undersea volcanic eruption Ranges from 3-1,640 feet At the speed of a commercial jet plane