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Developing a theory

On November 1, 1755, the port of Lisbon, Portugal, was hit by a terrible earthquake. More than 60,000 people died. The day of the earthquake was a religious holiday, and many of those killed were crushed in churches. Because earthquakes were thought to be a punishment from God, it did not make sense that one would take place on a holy day. People also asked why innocent children would be punished? Soon after the earthquake, some people started to look for scientific reasons. The Marquez de Pombal, a Portugese nobleman, asked Lisbon's surviving priests to fill out questionnaires documenting information about the earthquake. The questionnaires included questions about the time and the direction of the earthquake shock.

In 1760, John Michell, an English physicist, came up with an interesting theory. He reasoned that if you could record the under-ground shock waves and the points at which the waves stopped, you...

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1. Introduction
2. There's a whole lot of shaking going on
3. Developing a theory
4. Measuring an earthquake
5. Experiment 1 - Detecting an Earthquake: How can movement of Earth's crust be measured?
6. Experiment 2 - Earthquake Simulation: Is the destruction greater at the epicenter?
7. Design Your Own Experiment