Shaking up Earth Science: Visual and Auditory Representations of Earthquake Interactions

Abstract

One earthquake can influence subsequent earthquakes. To demonstrate such earthquake interactions, seismologists have used in the past "snapshot" static images. Although statis images can, by themselves, convey basic visual information about the spatial distribution of earthquakes, adding auditory information could help to provide additional details on the temporal evolution of the earthquake sequences. Recently we have used standard tools like MATLAB and Quick Time Pro to produce animations with time-compressed sounds to demonstrate both immediate aftershocks and remotely triggered tremors related to the 2011 magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake. Here we show our development in this direction that includes multiple parameters of earthquakes and seismic waves to present the concept of earthquake triggering.