Download Name Date ______ Class

Name _____________________________
Date __________
Period __________
Science 81
Geology 101
B5b
DESIGNING AN EXPERIMENT EARTHQUAKE DEPTHS
In Chapter 7 you learned that the Earth’s lithosphere is broken into several plates. The plate movements
cause rocks to break and earthquakes to occur. The point where rocks break inside the Earth is called the focus
of the earthquake.
Do all earthquakes occur at the same depth in the earth’s crust or is there a relationship between earthquake
depth and the subduction process?
1. With graph paper make a scatter plot to show the depth of earthquake foci and the distance from the
coast of each epicenter.
2. Place Distance from the coast on the horizontal axis. Begin labeling at the far left with 100 km
west and each space is 50 km. To the right is 50 km West and then 0 m, and then increase by 50 km up
to 700 km East.
3. Label the vertical axis Depth below Earth’s surface. Begin labeling at the bottom of the vertical
axis with –700 km. Let each space equal 50 km until you reach 0 which represents the earth’s surface.
4. Plot the focus depth for each earthquake on the graph. You do not need to label them.
QUAKE
FOCUS
DEPTH
DISTANCE OF EPICENTER
FROM THE COAST (KM)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
-55 km
-295 km
-390 km
-60 km
-130 km
-195 km
-695 km
-20 km
-505 km
-520 km
-385 km
-45 km
-305 km
-480 km
-655 km
-85 km
-525 km
-85 km
-445 km
-635 km
-55 km
0
100 east
455 east
75 east
255 east
65 east
400 east
40 west
695 east
390 east
335 east
95 east
495 east
285 east
545 east
90 west
205 east
25 west
595 east
665 east
95 west
© J.G.Mullett 2015-2016
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ANALYZE AND CONCLUDE: ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.
1. What is the relationship between the distance from the coast of an earthquake and the depth of
earthquake foci (where they begin)?
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2. Based on the graph you have constructed, hypothesize what type of plate boundary is shown and why
you came to that conclusion?
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_________________________________
3. What point on your graph, represents the coast? ____________________________
4. Is the continent located east or west of the plate boundary? Explain how you know.
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5. Hypothesize why earthquakes do not occur below 700km.
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© J.G.Mullett 2015-2016
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