This page is not meant to be a comprehensive discussion of the how-tos of the project. Rather, it should help most participants get started. Frequent discussions with the other participants is how we got through this last year and this year should be no different. If you are confused.. speak up.

Stepwise Approach to the Project

1. Each school should download their files from the MVHS quake page. These files will be simple text files of amplitude vs. time on web pages. It should be possible to simply copy and paste them into another application (MatLab, spreadsheet, graphing package).

2. Students use a spreadsheet, matlab, a graphing package to graph the data and use the graphs to determine the difference between the arrival time of the p wave and the arrival time of the S wave.

3. Using charts and graphs readily available from textbooks or web sites, students can use the s-p difference to estimate the distance to the quake and a combination of the amplitude and s-p difference to determine the magnitude of the quake.
   • IMSA Geophysics - s-p time difference chart
   • Richter Magnitude - nomogram for estimating magnitude

4. Schools report their best estimate of distance and magnitude to a form on the quake page. As schools report in their results will be posted.

5. After most schools have posted results, students use the estimates of distance to locate the epicenter by "triangulation".
   1. Use distance from each "monitoring site" to construct circles around the site.
   2. Determine the most probable earthquake site from the intersection of circles. This can be done using a map and compass or computationally.

6. Each school then reports its best estimate of location on a second form.

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