Meagan
Mr. President
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
NWWashington, D.C.20500
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for picking me to serve on this committee for the study of earthquakes. The following paragraphs will contain the answers to your questions. Which includes the most recent earthquake locations that are most likely to show activity. What parts of the world are most prone to earthquakes. The relationships between earthquakes and volcanoes. And the last question of all, what is causing earthquakes.
Earthquakes have been recently occurring in Alaska and Asia, but mostly in California. They seem to be occurring in these areas because they are by plate boundaries, or faults, like the San Andreas Fault. They are also most likely to occur by volcanoes or on the Ring of Fire. I have also discovered that the farther north you go, the less earthquakes there are. It’s the same with the farther south that you go. Earthquakes have mostly been occurring between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.
The way to determine what parts of the world are most prone to earthquakes is to look at the plate boundaries. The earth is full of plates that move and bump against each other, causing an earthquake. The boundaries of these plates are where most earthquakes occur. Just looking at the border of the plates will give you an estimate of where they are most likely to occur. The area where there is a fault may also be at risk.
Volcanoes and earthquakes have a very important relationship. For instance, an earthquake can trigger an active volcano, which would trigger cause an eruption. Or, it could be the exact opposite, meaning that a volcanic eruption could cause an earthquake. The earthquake following the volcano eruption is actually the deadly aftershock of the eruption. This would be the reasoning for earthquakes being prone to places near the Ring of Fire, or near volcanoes.
There are many causes of earthquakes. First of all, the plates are always moving, so they will eventually collide with one another. In doing so, the stress of the two plates pushing together would cause a piece of the plate to snap off into a new position. This would cause an earthquake. These types of movements could cause strike-slips, normal, or reverse faults. The motion of the plates make seismic waves, which are the actual earthquake. Finally, as mentioned, the relationship between volcanoes and earthquakes could cause an earthquake.
Once again, thank you for choosing me to serve on this committee. It has been a pleasure working for you. I hope you find this information useful and that this will help you to understand the importance of this project. Feel free to contact my secretary, or me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Meagan
Lead in the USGS investigation