Drop! Cover! Hold On! —Where will you be when an earthquake strikes??? @IRISEarthquakeScience

Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

WWW.iris.edu/earthquake. THIS IS A SHORTENED VERSION

If you live in earthquake-prone regions, it isn’t a question of IF, but WHEN the earthquake will occur. We do not know where we will be when it strikes, but we can know how to protect ourselves when it happens. Here are the best ways to protect yourself when an earthquake strikes.
Narrated by Brian Terbush, Earthquake/Volcano Program Coordinator for the Washington State Emergency Management Division, mil.wa.gov
Animation by Jenda Johnson (Earth Sciences Animated) for the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, www.iris.edu/earthquake
Poster graphic from ShakeOut.org/washington/resources
Poster of classroom from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Seismic Hazard map from the U.S. Geological Survey
Music: “Swarm” by Parallel Park, from the Free Music Archive
Made possible by generous support from the National Science Foundation, nsf.gov
to the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and the ShakeAlert® System

Drop! Cover! Hold On! —Where will you be when an earthquake strikes???

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$Earthquake Faults—3 basic types...in brief This was created using excerpts from the longer animation called, “Earthquake Faults, Plate Boundaries, & Stress” [to be released September 2019; STAY TUNED!!] A fault is a rock fracture where the two sides have been displaced relative to each other. Faults are categorized into three general groups based on the sense of slip or movement. Normal fault—the block above the inclined fault moves down relative to the block below the fault. This fault motion is caused by tensional forces and results in extension. [Other names: normal-slip fault, tensional fault or gravity fault] Examples include Basin & Range faults. Reverse fault—the block above the inclined fault moves up relative to the block below the fault. This fault motion is caused by compressional forces and results in shortening. A reverse fault is called a thrust fault if the dip of the fault plane is small. [Other names: reverse-slip fault or compressional fault.] Examples include the Rocky Mountains and the Himalayan Mountains. Strike-slip fault—movement of blocks along a fault is horizontal and the fault plane is nearly vertical. If the block on the far side of the fault moves to the left, as shown in this animation, the fault is called left-lateral (Figure 2). If it moves to the right, the fault is called right-lateral. The fault motion of a strike-slip fault is caused by shearing forces. [Other names: trans current fault, lateral fault, tear fault or wrench fault.] Examples include the San Andreas Fault, California; Anatolian Fault, Turkey. Narrated by Dr. Wendy Bohon Animated by Jenda Johnson, Earth Sciences Animated$

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