Earthquake FAQs

Preparedness

Q: What should I do to prepare for an earthquake?
A:

1. Prepare an emergency kit of food, water and supplies, including a flashlight, portable battery-operated radio, batteries, medicines, first aid kit, money and clothing.
2. Know the safe spots in each room-under sturdy tables, desks or against interior walls.
3. Know the danger spots near windows, mirrors, hanging objects, fireplaces and tall, unsecured furniture.
4. Conduct safety drills so you and your family know the safe locations in your home.
5. Decide how and where your family will reunite if separated during an earthquake.
6. Choose an out-of-state friend or relative who family members can call after the quake to report their whereabouts and conditions.
7. Learn first aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
8. Learn how to shut off gas, water and electricity in case the lines are damaged.
9. Check chimneys, roofs, walls, and foundations for stability. Make sure your house is bolted to the foundation.
10. Secure your water heater and major appliances as well as tall, heavy furniture, hanging plants, mirrors and picture frames (especially those over beds).

Q: What should I do in the event of an earthquake?
A:

1. If indoors, DROP to the floor, take COVER by get under a sturdy desk or table, and HOLD ON until the shaking stops.  If you are not near a desk or table, drop to the floor against an interior wall and protect your head and neck with your arms. Avoid exterior walls, windows, hanging objects, mirrors, tall furniture, large appliances. Do not go outside until the shaking stops.
2. If outdoors, get into an open area away from trees, buildings, walls and power lines.
3. If in a high-rise building, stay away from windows and outside walls. Get under a table. Do not use elevators.
4. If driving, pull over to the side of the road and stop. Avoid overpasses and power lines. Stay inside your car until the shaking is over.
5. If in a crowded public place, do not rush for the doors. Crouch and cover your head and neck with your hands and arms.

Q: What should I do after an earthquake?
A:

• Unless there is a life-threatening situation do not use the telephone.
• Check for gas and water leaks and broken electrical wiring or sewage lines. If there is damage, turn the utility off at the source.
• Check for downed power lines. Warn others to stay away.
• Check your building for cracks and damage, including roofs, chimneys and foundations.
• Turn on your portable radio for instructions and news reports. For your own safety, cooperate fully with public safety officials and follow instructions.
• Do not use your vehicle unless there is an emergency. Keep the streets clear for emergency vehicles.
• Be prepared for aftershocks.
• If you evacuate, leave a message at your home telling family members and others where you can be found.

QCN-Specific FAQ

Q: How can I join the Quake-Catcher Network?
A: If you have a supported laptop or external sensor, just download software from the QCN website.

Q: What is distributed computing?
A: Distributed computing is a computing architecture that divides portions of a calculation among many distinct computers connected over a network.  QCN uses BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) to distribute QCN software.

Q: Why do laptops have accelerometers?
A: In case the laptop is dropped, the computer detects the change in acceleration and parks the hard drive to prevent the disk from crashing.

Q: What other electronics have accelerometers?
A: Phones such as iPhones, Symbian and remote controls such as the Wii remote.

Q: How can more QCN sensors help?
A: Each new sensor could be near the epicenter of the next “Big One”, making measurements from that sensor critical for rapid detection and magnitude estimation.

Q: How does QCN know where the sensors are?
A: QCN uses IP geotracking to roughly locate the sensors within a few kilometers. Volunteers can also input locations into a Google Maps web interface through QCN.

Q: How can a few seconds warning before an earthquake help?
A: With a few seconds warning, people could get away from hazards (like windows), and take cover.

Q: What is the smallest earthquake QCN has recorded?
A: A magnitude 3.8 near Los Angeles on July 29th, 2008.

Q: What is the largest earthquake QCN has recorded?
A: A magnitude 5.4 near Los Angeles on July 29th, 2008.  In time we will detect many more much larger earthquakes.

Q: How accurate are the clocks on the QCN volunteer computers.
A: Often not very accurate. QCN uses network timing protocol to measure how far off the clock drifts every 15 minutes.

Q: How can QCN grow to be the largest seismic network in the world?
A: The sensors in QCN are free in laptops or inexpensive (less than $50) for desktops. This is much cheaper than typical sensors.

Q: Why is QCN so inexpensive compared to other seismic networks?
A: Several reasons:

1. New MEMS accelerometers are less expensive than ever before. So they are built into many laptops for free and can be attached to desktops for very low costs (less than $50 each).  While less sensitive than research-grade sensors, we can buy many more of them than ever before.
2. Volunteer computers make digitizing the seismic record, detecting the strong motions, and transferring the data free for the QCN. Thank you volunteers!
3. QCN does not have to install the sensors. The work time spent installing, maintaining, and repairing seismic sensors is very expensive for traditional networks.

Q: Are QCN sensors as good as sensors used by the USGS and other seismic networks?
A: No. QCN sensors can only detect large local earthquakes because they are far less sensitive and therefore less expensive.  Most other sensors can detect smaller earthquakes (like magnitude 1.0) and large earthquakes on the other side of the planet.  The research grade sensors allow us to detect earthquake in places where we don’t have sensors.

Q: Does it matter that QCN sensors are in buildings and not in the ground?
A: Yes. A sensor in the ground is more sensitive to earthquake vibrations and less sensitive to man-made vibrations (like doors slamming).  Sensors in buildings can provide a better estimate of the forces buildings actually experience during an earthquake.

Q: How can QCN tell the difference between someone dropping a laptop and an earthquake?
A: Only in an earthquake will many computer-sensors detect strong motion all at once.

Q: Has QCN detected and located an earthquake in less than 10 seconds?
A: No. QCN does not have enough sensors yet to do rapid earthquake detection.  QCN will only work quickly with large numbers of sensors.

Q: Doesn’t QCN just record typing most of the time?
A: No. QCN only runs on laptops when the computer has been inactive for 3 minutes or more.

Q: Are all QCN sensors the same?
A: No. Each laptop manufacturer uses a different sensor. Some have greater sensitivity. Others only have two axes (x & y) whereas others have three (x, y, & z).  USB accelerometers are the most sensitive and have 3 axes.

Q: Why is it important to have multiple axis accelerometers?
A: The earth shakes in all directions in an earthquake, not just up and down or left to right.

Q: How can I donate to QCN?
A: We are working on a way for donations to be made to QCN.

Basic Earthquake FAQ

Q: What is the largest earthquake ever recorded?
A: The largest recorded earthquake was a magnitude 9.5 (Mw) in Chile on May 22, 1960

Q: How much bigger is a magnitude 5.0 earthquake than a magnitude 4.0 earthquake?
A: Each increase in magnitude by a step of one has about 31.6 times more energy.

Q: What is a tsunami?
A: A tsunami is a sea wave caused by an underwater earthquake or landslide (usually triggered by an earthquake) displacing the ocean water.

Q: How many earthquakes happen each year?
A: It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year. 100,000 of those can be felt, and 100 of them cause damage.

Q: Can we predict earthquakes?
A: No. Currently no organization or scientist can accurately predict the time and occurrence of earthquake. Scientists can determine the likelihood that an earthquake will occur in a region over a long period of time.   For example, the USGS reports that there is over 60% chance that a magnitude 6.7 or greater will occur in the San Francisco Bay Region in the next 30 years.

Q: Can people hear earthquakes?
A: Yes. Earthquakes make all sorts of noises, from very low rumbling to high frequency rattling of windows.

Q: Will California fall off into the ocean?
A: No. The San Andreas Fault System moves the land on the west of the fault to the north, not west and out to sea.

Q: What is plate tectonics?
A: Plate tectonics the study of the continual slow motion of the tectonic plates (the outermost part of the Earth). Motion between plates causes most earthquakes.

Q: Where can I find out more about earthquakes?
A: The USGS (http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/learning/) has excellent educational material on earthquakes.

Q: What is an aftershock?
A: After many large earthquakes there are often many smaller earthquakes that occur in the same area. These aftershocks are generally readjustments along a portion of the fault that slipped during the main shock.  Even small aftershocks can be dangerous because they can rattle already damaged structures.

Q: Where can I find photographs of earthquake damage?
A: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/photos.php

Q: Why do earthquakes in some countries cause more damage and casualties than in others?
A: The damage and number of casualties caused by an earthquake may increase if a country has buildings that are poorly designed or constructed. Countries like the US and Japan have strict building codes.

Q: What is liquefaction?
A: Liquefaction can occur when an water-logged soil is shaken, causing the fluid between particles to weaken the ground to the point that the ground behaves much like a liquid.

Q: At what magnitude do earthquakes become dangerous?
A: There is no simple answer. As a general rule of thumb 4 – 5.  Earthquake hazard may be affected by several factors:

• The farther people are from an earthquake the safer they are.
• The ground conditions beneath you can amplify shaking.
• If the earthquake happens beneath water, a tsunami can make an earthquake even more dangerous.
• The better a building is designed and constructed, the larger the earthquake needs to be to cause damage.

 

 

 

 



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