Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
lithosphere subdivision in plates. Another 3-D Earth model shows the inner structure
of our planet and the secret engine driving the plates.
After having been introduced to the plate tectonics' world, the visitors become
familiar with earthquake geology and seismology. They play with a 3-D strike-slip
fault model that can produce earthquakes of different sizes and, fi nally, produce their
own earthquakes jumping close to an S-13 seismometer connected to a drum recorder.
The tour ends with an exciting visit to the reproduction of the INGV National Seismic
Network Center, watching seismic data in real-time and how seismologists locate the
earthquakes.
Let's explore together the interactive museum.
When and Where did Earthquakes Happen in Italy?
The entrance of the museum is a small movie-theatre where a 3-min movie shows the
location of the largest Italian earthquakes during the last 1,000 years, conceived to ill-
ustrate the most seismic areas in Italy. In the last 10 centuries Italy was struck by more
than 200 earthquakes with magnitude greater than 5.5 (CPTI) (Catalogo Parametrico
dei Terremoti Italiani, 1999) and many cities were completely destroyed, sometimes
abandoned, and re-built in other places. In Italy even moderate size earthquakes can be
damaging, and so it is important to study this level of seismicity.
Figure 2.
A 3-D Earth model shows what drives the plates and the inner structure of our planet.
Looking at the magnitude and location of historical events and considering the
effects of major earthquakes in different parts of our country, the visitors can learn that
earthquakes and damage do not occur by chance, and Earth often shakes where it has
already shaken in the past.
Where do Earthquakes Happen in the World?
After the film the visitors move on to three computer stations connected to a database
of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, covering a time span from 1960 to present. The
