New
New
Year 6

Measuring earthquakes

I can describe and explain how we measure earthquakes.

New
New
Year 6

Measuring earthquakes

I can describe and explain how we measure earthquakes.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The focus of an earthquake is deep underground - seismic waves radiate out from the focus.
  2. The epicentre is on the surface, directly above the focus and is where the earthquake is felt most strongly.
  3. The power of an earthquake is called its magnitude and is measured on the Richter scale.

Keywords

  • Focus - The point inside Earth’s crust where the earthquake starts is called the focus.

  • Epicentre - The epicentre is the point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.

  • Seismic waves - Seismic waves are vibrations that travel through Earth generated by an earthquake or an explosion.

  • Magnitude - Magnitude is a measure of the size of the seismic waves generated by an earthquake.

Common misconception

Earthquakes are their strongest at their epicentre.

Earthquakes are felt their strongest at their epicentre as that is where humans first feel them. Earthquakes are actually their strongest at their focus point, but humans do not feel them until seismic waves have travelled through the Earth's crust.

Breaking the Mercalli scale into 3 sections (1-4, 5-8 and 9-12) helps children understand changes and severity at these magnitudes of earthquakes.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
In the event of an earthquake, ....
weather turns severe
lava erupts from the ground
Correct answer: there is a sudden shaking of the ground
Q2.
What is the layer in the centre of Earth?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: Inner core
Q3.
Order the layers of Earth into their correct order starting with the outer most layer.
1 - Crust
2 - Mantle
3 - Outer core
4 - Inner core
Q4.
What is the largest layer of Earth?
Correct Answer: mantle , The mantle
Q5.
What are these?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: Tectonic plates, Plate tectonics, Pieces of Earth's crust
Q6.
Why do tectonic plates move?
because the sea moves them
Correct answer: because they sit on top of Earth's moving mantle
because they are moved by the pressure of humans standing on them

6 Questions

Q1.
The point deep underground where the tectonic plates first break or slip is called the...
Correct answer: focus
epicentre
mantle
seismic wave
Q2.
What are the waves of energy called that pulsate out when the tectonic plates first slip?
Correct Answer: Seismic waves, Shock waves
Q3.
Where are earthquakes felt the strongest?
crust
Correct answer: epicentre
focus
ground
Q4.
What is the strength of an earthquake called?
Correct Answer: Magnitude, Its magnitude
Q5.
Which scale is commonly used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes?
Richter scale
Mercalli Scale
Correct answer: Moment magnitude scale
Q6.
Which scale is commonly used to measure the impact of an earthquake at its epicentre?
seismographs
Correct answer: mercalli scale
the richter scale
moment magnitude scale

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