Texas Educational Seismic Project

posting on behalf of the Texas Girls Collaborative …. see request for STEM volunteers…

“Happy New Year! 

I wanted to pass along information on the GEMS event at HMNS that is happening in February.

With the new year in full swing, we are getting ready for all of our 2019 events including GEMS. We are excited to invite you to participate as a Community Booth at Girls Exploring Math & Science (GEMS) on Saturday February 16^th from 9am to 1pm.  The GEMS event is designed to encourage student interest in STEM subjects. Community Booths are an important part of this event because it is a great opportunity for students to see what your organization does with science, technology, engineering or math and talk to your staff about their careers. Each Community Booth also has a STEM activity or demonstration to present to students and their families. These activities and demonstrations do not have to be complicated or expensive, so please feel free to reuse ideas that you have done at GEMS in the past or at other similar festivals. If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to ask anything and everything, and I will be happy to help!

We do have limited availability for community booths as this program has expanded quite a lot in the last few years. If you would like to secure your place as a Community Booth, please fill out the attached application and return to GEMS@hmns.org or via fax at 713-639-4681. There is additional information about requirements and frequently asked questions in the Community INFO packet attached to this email as well.

Kelsey Friedemann 
Assistant Director of Youth Education
Ph. 713.639.4766 | kfriedemann@hmns.org

theHoustonMuseumofnaturalscience

How many more strong earthquakes will we record today??  Assume that approximately 1000+ earthquakes with a magnitude M>5.0 occur per year.

The last 24 hours, from Saturday January 5 thru part of Sunday January 6, 2019, Station E1TX, operated by Texas Educational Seismic Project (TXESP), did **not** record teleseismic waves from several moderate global earthquakes.  For example, E1TX recorded the M6.1 Alaskan earthquake at 18:47hrs UTC on Saturday; however, two  moderate M5.0 earthquakes occurred near the original epicenter ~9 and 13 hrs later and were not recorded at our Station.  Why might that be?

Shown below is a 24-hour screen capture during 05/01/2019 to 06/01/2019.  It is marked with black arrows of all earthquakes, with magnitudes M > 5.0, which occurred.  Note that many were not recorded.  The “missing” earthquake seismograms are not actually “missing”, they bring us important observations regarding instrumental sensitivities, Earth’s heterogeneities, and re-affirm / challenge theories relative to wave theory.

SO, where have all the “cowboys”, er, earthquakes, gone?? 🙂

Today, Sunday January 6, 2019 at 17:27 hrs UTC, operated by Texas Educational Seismic Project (TXESP), Station E1TX recorded another major earthquakes in Indonesia.  A magnitude M6.6hrs UTC earthquake occurred.  From the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre, “Based on historical earthquake and tsunami data, Tsunami Threat does not exist for India. ITEWC [INCOIS] will monitor sea level changes near epicentral region and report in case of tsunami threat.”

How many more strong earthquakes will we record today??  Assume that approximately 155 earthquakes with a magnitude M>6.0 occur per year.

From

***How Many Magnitude > 6.0 Earthquakes Recorded Today?? ***

The dynamic Earth is always on the move – creating and destroying parts of tectonic plates.  Thus far today, Saturday January 5, 2019 at 21:57hrs UTC, operated by Texas Educational Seismic Project (TXESP), Station E1TX has recorded two major earthquakes – one in Alaska (M6.0 at 18:47hrs UTC) and the other in Brazil (M6.8 at 19:25hrs UTC).

How many more strong earthquakes will we record today??  Assume that approximately 155 earthquakes with a magnitude M>6.0 occur per year.

Take a look at the statistics HERE –>>  EARTHQUAKE OCCURRENCE

Shown are the seismograms of the M6.0 Alaska and M6.8 Brazilian earthquakes recorded on an EQ1 Seismograph (top) and a Raspberry Shake Seismograph (bottom).

***courtesy of IRIS.edu

Plate Boundaries: Three types differentiated

https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/plate_boundaries_three_types_described?fbclid=IwAR2hjIKB4GA8Rm1-CDwEcuSCGGSDBbnBEeon0NGAej-APcIvP1ObSVm3AFo

We are super excited to accept an invitation to Hero Elementary, operated by PBS in MN, and to take place late Jan/ early Feb for training.  “Train the trainers”, as I perceive it, will enhance our instructional acumen and allow us to network with educators nationwide.  We are very proud of this accomplishment and the events associated with it 🙂  THANK YOU for this incredible opportunity! Here is where you can find TXESP in 1Q2019!!

https://www2.bc.edu/alan-kafka/quakes/TXBC_ESPs_AGU_2018.pdf

An emphatic **THANK YOU** to all of our donors who enabled Texas Educational Seismic Project to participate in the American Geophysical Union’s National Conference in Washington, DC.

Our poster presentations were well received! We also had the opportunities to visit TX Congressional members on The Hill discussing Earth and Planetary Science legislation.
Kindest Regards, Kristi R Fink

https://www2.bc.edu/alan-kafka/quakes/TXBC_ESPs_AGU_2018.pdf

Teachers, professors, educators – I think this language [for a syllabus] is brilliant!  Be certain to credit the author, as per request, if you shall choose to include any portion of the language – and good luck in 2019!!

Syllabus Language

Over the past couple of weeks, Station E1TX in Spring, TX **has** recorded very large earthquakes with magnitudes > M7.0.  Two of these earthquakes would not normally be detected at E1TX becuase the distance to the epicenters are greater than the technical capability of the EQ1 seismograph.  However, we **did** record these three global earthquakes:  Alaska M7.0 on November 30, 2018 at 17:29hrs UTC; New Caledonia M 7.5 on December 05, 2018 at 04:18hrs UTC; and, South Sandwich islands M7.1 on December 11, 2018 at 02:26hrs UTC.

What key information could probably explain why our Station easily detected these events?

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Here is a map displaying the intensity of shaking from the very large magnitude M7.0 Alaskan earthquake which occurred on November 30, 2018 at 17:29hrs UTC and was 25 miles deep. The colored contour lines delineate how much shaking was felt (or observed) at a location. Intensity ranges from a scale of 1 (not at all) to a 10 (catastrophic). Those near Anchorage reported shaking as intense as an 8ish. That’s severe! The star is the epicenter, or location, of the earthquake. Astounding and incredulous, huh?!

What does this severe shaking affect? Everything, see the photographs in the slideshow.  On the map, the colored contour lines delineate how much shaking was felt (or observed) at a location. Intensity ranges from a scale of 1 (not at all) to a 10 (catastrophic). Those near Anchorage reported shaking as intense as an 8ish. That’s severe! The star is the epicenter, or location, of the earthquake. Credits noted when known, some anonymous.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Your generous financial support facilitates our #scienceeducational programs and ongoing solid earth geophysics >>> CLICK HERE!

Here is a LIVE shot of the HUGE Surface Waves propagating under Texas LIVE.  This very large magnitude M7.0 Alaskan earthquake occurred at 17:29hrs UTC and was 25 miles deep!

Your generous financial support facilitates our #scienceeducational programs and ongoing solid earth geophysics >>> CLICK HERE!