Open-File Report 2011–1158
AbstractQuakeCaster is an interactive, hands-on teaching model that simulates earthquakes and their interactions along a plate-boundary fault. QuakeCaster contains the minimum number of physical processes needed to demonstrate most observable earthquake features. A winch to steadily reel in a line simulates the steady plate tectonic motions far from the plate boundaries. A granite slider in frictional contact with a nonskid rock-like surface simulates a fault at a plate boundary. A rubber band connecting the line to the slider simulates the elastic character of the Earth’s crust. By stacking and unstacking sliders and cranking in the winch, one can see the results of changing the shear stress and the clamping stress on a fault. By placing sliders in series with rubber bands between them, one can simulate the interaction of earthquakes along a fault, such as cascading or toggling shocks. By inserting a load scale into the line, one can measure the stress acting on the fault throughout the earthquake cycle. As observed for real earthquakes, QuakeCaster events are not periodic, time-predictable, or slip-predictable. QuakeCaster produces rare but unreliable “foreshocks.” When fault gouge builds up, the friction goes to zero and fault creep is seen without large quakes. QuakeCaster events produce very small amounts of fault gouge that strongly alter its behavior, resulting in smaller, more frequent shocks as the gouge accumulates. QuakeCaster is designed so that students or audience members can operate it and record its output. With a stopwatch and ruler one can measure and plot the timing, slip distance, and force results of simulated earthquakes. People of all ages can use the QuakeCaster model to explore hypotheses about earthquake occurrence. QuakeCaster takes several days and about $500.00 in materials to build. |
Last modified March 3, 2015
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Linton, K., and Stein, R.S., 2015, How to build and teach with QuakeCaster—An earthquake demonstration and exploration tool (ver. 1.1, March 2015): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1158, 38 p. and videos, https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20111158.
ISSN 2331-1258 (online)
Abstract
QuakeCaster Design and Purpose
Demonstrating Earthquake Principles and Testing Hypotheses with QuakeCaster
Coulomb Failure Criteria, Stress Triggering of Earthquakes, and Earthquake Interaction
Examples of QuakeCaster Experiments
QuakeCaster Relates to the Parkfield Section of the San Andreas Fault
Measuring the Fault Friction in QuakeCaster
Measuring the Elasticity of Earth’s Crust in QuakeCaster .
Audience Participation in QuakeCaster Experiments
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
Glossary
Appendixes (2)
Figures (10)
Supplementary Videos (2)