ESS 202:  Earthquakes

Time and Classroom:

Lectures: MWF 1:30 – 2:20   Room 175 Johnson Hall

Laboratory sections: T 12:30-3:20, Th 12:30-3:20, Room 117 Johnson Hall

            F 9:30-12:20  Room 011 Johnson Hall

Final exam: 2:30-4:20 PM on Monday June 8.  No makeup exams will be allowed.

Profs:

John Vidale   Room 208A ATG Bldg. (206) 543-6790      john_vidale@mac.com

Ken Creager Room 222 ATG Bldg. (206) 685-2803         kcc@ess.washington.edu

Office hours: JV: Tues 2:00-3:00,  KCC: Wed 2:30-3:30, or by appointment.

TA:  Josh Jones, Geophysics graduate student

(206) 543-0570, josh@ess.washington.edu  Room 202 ATG Bldg.

Office hours: Tue and Thu 3:30-5:00.

Website:

http://courses.washington.edu/ess202/

Learning Objectives:

á      Understand earthquakes:  Why and where they occur, and their consequences.

á      Learn about earth processes associated with earthquakes, including plate tectonics, volcanoes, tsunamis, and landslides.

á      Be able to understand articles about earthquakes in the newspapers or popular science press.  Make informed decisions about matters related to earthquakes in your own life.

á      Improve quantitative, writing, and presentation skills.

Quantitative Approach:

Understanding earthquakes requires some concepts from mathematics and physics.  There will be a few equations, and the lab exercises are somewhat quantitative, so you need some algebra and geometry from high school.  At least one quarter of physics or math at university level would be helpful.  Centimeters and kilometers will be used as units of distance.

Grading:

There will be 10 in-class pop quizzes, which cannot be made up.  Attendance at the weekly lab section is required – no more than two labs can be missed without prior permission of the TA.  Also required is a group presentation and a paper on a topic related to earthquakes.  The grade will be based 30% on laboratory assignments, 20% on in-class quizzes, 15% on the paper, 10% on the group presentation, and 25% on the final exam.

Course content:

We will follow this text, available at the bookstore:

Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (2nd Ed.), by Robert Yeats, Oregon State University Press, 2004.

Other useful texts include:

Earthquakes, by Bruce A. Bolt, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1999.

Peace of mind in earthquake country, by Peter Yanev, Chronicle Books, 1991.