Paper No. 264-9
Presentation Time: 4:00 PM
HANDS-ON AND BODY-MOVING KINESTHETIC ACTIVITIES TO EXPLORE PLATE DEFORMATION, EARTHQUAKES, AND EARTHQUAKE EARLY WARNING POWERED BY THE SHAKEALERT® SYSTEM
As of May 2021, the ShakeAlert® Earthquake Early Warning System serves over 55 million+ residents and visitors in California, Oregon, and Washington. The ShakeAlert system rapidly detects earthquakes and sends alerts, protecting people living in these earthquake-prone regions along with property and infrastructure before strong shaking arrives. USGS produces ShakeAlert Messages, prompting alert delivery partners to send ShakeAlert-powered alerts by public and private means (internet, radio, television, cellular, and FEMA-delivered Wireless Emergency Alerts). Alert effectiveness requires social and humanitarian considerations, including public awareness and education around what to do when receiving a ShakeAlert-powered alert. An essential component of the ShakeAlert implementation is to educate the public on earthquake hazards and risks, how ShakeAlert works, and how to prepare for and take protective actions.
This presentation introduces the ShakeAlert educational activity, “Interpreting & Kinesthetic Modeling of GPS Data Maps: Demonstrating Tectonic Motions in Earthquake Hazard Regions.” Designed for formal and free-choice environments, learners model GPS ground motion through body movement to explore how plate motions lead to deformation within tectonic plates and identify earthquake risk based on areas of highest deformation rates.