Building Models

There are two ways of constructing earthquake models. One is commonly used by scientists - a computer generated 3D model. These normally require expensive software and a good grasp of computer lingo. The other is a live scale model. The easiest ones to construct are built from springs and ball bearings. A flat piece of plywood is anchored to 4 springs in each corner. The springs are then anchored to a fixed platform. From here, structures, buildings, and mountains composed of pebbles are placed on the plywood. For example, a group of university students built a similar model, but included 3 walls. They attached pictures to the walls, a computer and desk, kitchen table and chairs, a bed, and a ceiling light. 4 people stood behind each corner of the room and pushed in an X manner. The harder they pushed the greater the simulated magnitude was. They simulated a 7.5 magnitude to test new anchor brackets used to secure household objects. This is just one of the examples used for quake models. Located in the links section of this site will be a link to the USGS where there is a detailed article on another way of constructing quake models.