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Watch the waves from the M6.5 Idaho earthquake roll across seismic stations in North America! This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake location, jus

Watch the waves from the M6.5 Idaho earthquake roll across seismic stations in North America! This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake location, jus

40.8K viewsApr 1, 2020

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Watch the waves from the M7.5 Alaska earthquake roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake location, ju

Watch the waves from the M7.5 Alaska earthquake roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake location, ju

80.4K viewsOct 20, 2020

FacebookEarthScope Consortium

Watch the waves from the M5.1 earthquake in North Carolina roll across seismic stations in North America! This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake l

Watch the waves from the M5.1 earthquake in North Carolina roll across seismic stations in North America! This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake l

27K viewsAug 9, 2020

FacebookEarthScope Consortium

Watch the waves from the M7.1 Kermadec Islands earthquake roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America. Each dot is a seismic station, and when the ground moves up it turns red 🔴 and when it moves down it turns blue 🔵. Earthquake waves travel around and through the earth. Once the earthquake waves are far enough away from the location where the earthquak

Watch the waves from the M7.1 Kermadec Islands earthquake roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America. Each dot is a seismic station, and when the ground moves up it turns red 🔴 and when it moves down it turns blue 🔵. Earthquake waves travel around and through the earth. Once the earthquake waves are far enough away from the location where the earthquak

7.5K viewsApr 24, 2023

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Watch the waves from the M6.0 earthquake near the California / Nevada border roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away fro

Watch the waves from the M6.0 earthquake near the California / Nevada border roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away fro

62.3K viewsJul 9, 2021

FacebookEarthScope Consortium

Watch the waves from the M6.1 earthquake in Alaska roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake location,

Watch the waves from the M6.1 earthquake in Alaska roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake location,

7.7K viewsMay 31, 2021

FacebookEarthScope Consortium

Watch seismic waves from the M7.7 earthquake in Myanmar ripple across North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows how the ground moved as detected by seismometers across the continent. Each dot is a seismic station—red 🔴 means the ground moved up, blue 🔵 means it moved down. Seismic waves from earthquakes travel both through and around the Earth. Far from the source, these motions aren’t felt by people, but sensitive seismic instruments still pick them up.

Watch seismic waves from the M7.7 earthquake in Myanmar ripple across North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows how the ground moved as detected by seismometers across the continent. Each dot is a seismic station—red 🔴 means the ground moved up, blue 🔵 means it moved down. Seismic waves from earthquakes travel both through and around the Earth. Far from the source, these motions aren’t felt by people, but sensitive seismic instruments still pick them up.

317.1K viewsMar 28, 2025

FacebookEarthScope Consortium

Watch the waves from the M7.4 earthquake in Taiwan roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America. Each dot is a seismic station, and when the ground moves up it turns red 🔴 and when it moves down it turns blue 🔵. Earthquake waves travel around and through the Earth. Once the earthquake waves are far enough away from the location where the earthquake occur

8.4K viewsApr 3, 2024

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Watch the waves from the M7.0 earthquake in the Philippines roll across seismic stations in North America. This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from the earthquake

13.3K viewsJul 27, 2022

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Watch the waves from the M7.3 earthquake offshore of New Zealand roll across seismic stations in North America. (THREAD) This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on seismometers across North America - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenuate) as they move away from t

47.5K viewsMar 4, 2021

FacebookEarthScope Consortium

Between 2004 and 2021, the USArray project deployed seismometers in over 2,000 locations, rolling from the West Coast to the East Coast to record earthquakes and image beneath North America. Read more looking back at USArray ⬇️ https://loom.ly/dO2Vb7o | EarthScope Consortium

66.7K views8 months ago

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Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake that occurred on Good Friday, March 27th. It rocked the state with strong ground shaking for 4.5 minutes. Liquefaction in and around Anchorage tore the land apart. At magnitude 9.2, it was the second largest quake ever recorded by seismometers. Only 9 people died from the earthquake, but 130 died from the subsequent tsunami; 10 as far away as Crescent City, CA. This animation shows the underlying causes of that subduction-zone meg

3.3K viewsMar 28, 2022

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Watch the waves from the M6.4 Puerto Rico earthquake roll across the USArray Transportable Array seismic network (http://www.usarray.org )! This animation, called a Ground Motion Visualization (GMV), shows the motion of the ground as detected on USArray seismometers - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue - the vertical motion. Waves generated by an earthquake travel around and through the earth, but they get smaller (attenua

96.6K viewsJan 7, 2020

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This week is #TsunamiAwarenessWeek, and tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. The 1964 magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake showed that subduction zone megathrust earthquakes can produce tsunamis through a variety of mechanisms. Learn more about the different tsunami-producing mechanisms in megathrust earthquakes: https://loom.ly/VoETKGc | EarthScope Consortium

138.4K viewsMar 26, 2024

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Today is the 30th anniversary of the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake, the costliest earthquake to date in U.S. history. | EarthScope Consortium

1.1K viewsJan 17, 2024

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Alaska is the most seismically active state in the U.S. The Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, where the Pacific Plate dives beneath the North American Plate, produces more earthquakes >M8 than any other subduction zone. Next week marks the 60th anniversary of the 1964 M9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake that struck along this subduction zone. Learn more from our Teachable Moment presentation: https://loom.ly/LJEDS8E | EarthScope Consortium

12.2K viewsMar 19, 2024

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During Basin & Range extension, the crust stretches and stress builds. Friction along a fault is overcome and a block drops down. This sudden movement releases seismic energy in the form waves that people feel as earthquake shaking. Usually this occurs along parallel normal faults. However, the M6.5 earthquake today west of Tonopah, Nevada occurred as the result of strike-slip faulting in the shallow crust of the North America plate. About 24 M5 earthquakes have occurred in this area over the pa

1.9K viewsMay 15, 2020

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Watch the waves from the Anchorage earthquake roll across the USArray seismic network (www.usarray.org) This animation shows the motion of the ground as detected on USArray seismometers - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. Please keep in mind that the scale of the motion is very, very small. you can see the scale on the bottom right - it is in micrometers (microns). For reference, the diameter of a human hair is ~50 micro

71.6K viewsDec 1, 2018

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Many aftershocks have occurred following yesterday's magnitude 7.0 earthquake offshore Northern California, as shown in this animation. Large earthquakes are commonly followed by many aftershocks, which decrease in frequency over time. | EarthScope Consortium

151K viewsDec 6, 2024

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Massive HOT Blob Moving Beneath East Coast

58.6K views9 months ago

Watch the waves from the M7.0 earthquake near Anchorage roll across the USArray seismic network (www.usarray.org)! This animation shows the motion of the ground as detected on USArray seismometers - each dot is a seismic station and when the ground moves up it turns red and when it moves down it turns blue. This animation also uses “tailed” symbols with the direction and length of the "tail" representing the direction and size of the horizontal ground motion at each seismic station. Keep in mind

85.8K viewsDec 2, 2018

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Seismic shadow zones have taught us much about the inside of the earth. This shows how P waves travel through solids and liquids, but S waves are stopped by the liquid outer core. https://youtu.be/7eeqzRUg4DU | EarthScope Consortium

1.6K viewsNov 7, 2020

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A simple tabletop "earthquake machine" can illustrate the seismic cycle — and help us see why earthquakes are cyclical, but not predictable. | EarthScope Consortium

9.5K views8 months ago

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Seismic wave viewer allows you to track and visualize seismic waves traveling through Earth's interior and across the surface. http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/swaves/ | EarthScope Consortium

1.6K viewsDec 6, 2020

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Tracking space junk with seismometers? | EarthScope Consortium

11.8K views3 months ago

Seismic waves from an earthquake race through Earth’s interior 🏁 They zoom through cold, rigid material and crawl through hotter, softer zones. Why does Earth act like the ultimate traffic controller? And what does the journey from earthquake to receiver look like for a seismic wave? Learn all this and more on the new Seismology page of our "What is geophysics?" section ➡ https://loom.ly/LlGzbB0 | EarthScope Consortium

3.4K views10 months ago

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ShakeAlert—Earthquake Early Warning System for the West Coast of the U.S. (2020)

55.5K viewsSep 3, 2020

YouTubeIRIS Earthquake Science

There hasn't been a magnitude 7 earthquake since early December 2025, but our Earth is still shaking! Check out this animation showing earthquakes magnitude 4 recorded in the first five weeks of 2026. | EarthScope Consortium

21.4K views3 months ago

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With seismic tomography, scientists map out large regions where seismic waves travel slower or faster than average to develop images of individual slices through Earth's interior. Seismic waves travel faster through cold, stiff materials, like a subducting plate, and slower through warmer materials, like hot rock rising to the surface. These models—with areas where seismic waves travel more quickly in blue, and slower areas in red—allow scientists to infer structures like sinking tectonic plates

31.5K viewsMay 15, 2025

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GPS and Earthquakes | EarthScope Consortium

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