Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the UniverseChapter 19:
EarthquakesProblem of the WeekWalls of Water: Tsunamis
Each problem, 1 and 2, can be computed using the following formula:
#1: X km x 7 km/s (speed of p-waves) = X seconds or
#2: X km x 700 km/hr (speed of tsunami) = X hoursFor the p-wave/time calculations, seconds will have to be converted to minutes and or hours.
The following formulas, with conversion factors, can be used for those calculations.
X sec x 1min/60 sec = X min. and/or X min x 1 hr/60 min = X hours
Then, assuming that warning to the people of the coastal areas can be given, the students can debate what enough time is. For current USGS earthquake information, including P-wave Travel Times, check out the USGS site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/activity/world.html. (Very cool information site.) The United States Geological Survey (USGS) site, http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/cascadia.html, gives an excellent introduction to tsunamis and has many links to further information. The PBS site in the student section is a good reference on tsunami characteristics. |