The Relationship Between

Volcanoes, Tsunamis, and

Earthquakes
By, Wylie , James , and Gary

Hypothesis and Research Question

Research Question: How does the ratio of seismic activity to area affect the
explosivity of volcanoes and height of a tsunamis?
Hypothesis: If the seismic activity is increased then the explosivity of the volcano
and the height of the tsunami will increase along with the magnitude of the
earthquake.

Our Cyber Database:

NOAA Significant Earthquake Database

This database was supplied to us by our teacher Mr. C and it holds all of the
information for our project. It allows you to specify what conditions the event must
meet, in our case we selected the options yes earthquake, yes volcano, and yes
tsunami. To access the data we simply enter our search conditions and the
database supplies all of the earthquakes with volcanic activity and a tsunami. To
access the specific data about the tsunamis and volcanos there are hyperlinks that
open popup windows. The database is government run and has information going
back about 3,000 years. This database is what is guiding us in putting accurate
and complete data in our charts, graphs and slides in general.

Earthquakes and the most important info!

Earthquakes are the result of faults in the Earths crust made by the shifting of
tectonic plates. A fault is created when the tectonic plates shift back and forth, and
side to side. when a fault forms, the earth shakes, the earth. Shakes are what
earthquakes are in a simplified sense. An earthquakes magnitude is measured on
the Richter scale. If an earthquakes magnitude is over 8.00 it is very intense. If it
is below 7.00 it is still intense, but not extremely. The region between the two the
numbers is non deadly, but still a fatality count expected.

Volcanic Eruptions and the most important info!

According to factmonster.com, volcanic eruptions are the events that occur when
magma pours through cracks in the Earth's crust. The explosion that occurs from
all the pressure built up is what causes a volcanic eruption. They are measured on
the Volcanic Explosivity Index, or VEI, and every level higher multiplies in strength
by 10. The scale is measured from 0-8, with 0 being non-explosive and 8 being
mega-colossal.

Sources: fact monster.com, unc.edu zmescience.com globe-views.com

Tsunamis and the most important info!

Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes or other tectonic movement under the
ocean floor or partially in the ocean floor. The tectonic movements cause the
water to shift with the changing position of the plate and create the huge waves we
call tsunamis. Tsunamis are measured on a water height scale. According to the
SMS-tsunami-warning.com this is measured in meters which convert 1m= 3ft.

Sources: sums-tsunami-warning.com

Data Graph
Earthquake Intensity

Tsunami Height

Volcanic Explosivity
Index

CHILE: PUERTO MONTT, VALDIVIA

9.50

25.00

6.10

0.07

7.90

13.70

Longitude

Latitude

Year

Country

-73.407

-38.143

1960

139.131

34.221

2000

JAPAN: NEAR S COAST

HONSHU: KOZU-SHIMA

-155.5

19

1868

HAWAII ISLANDS

We noticed that when the

magnitude of the
earthquake intensified, the
other factors still remained
random We also noticed
that these events all
occurred in the Pacific
Ring of Fire, the imaginary
ring that shows which
countries have the most
seismic and volcanic
activity.

Google Earth Generated Map Shots!

CHILE

Japan

Hawaii

Conclusion
If there is lots seismic activity in an area, regions we studied
showed that if there was seismic activity, there were tsunamis, and
eruptions, but the amount of seismic activity on the Richter scale had
nothing to do with explosivity or tsunami height. It is unpredictable.

Bibliography
"AP Chemistry May Calendar Page." AP Chemistry May Calendar Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. <https://usjbruins.org/about/websites/mullins/ap_chemistry_may_calendar_page.htm>.
"Volcanic Eruptions." Volcanic Eruptions. Factmonster, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015. <http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769041.htm>.
Volcanic explosivity index https://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/VEI.html
NOAA database
Tsunamis:run-up and introductionhttp://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/runup-inundation