Name: ________________________________ Grade & Sec: ______________________ Date: _____________

Sta. Cruz Learning Center

Landing, Catarman, Liloan
School I.D 404-359

Science 8
Learning Activity Worksheet No. 8
2nd Quarter Week No. 2 Date: ________________________

Content Standard: The learner demonstrates understanding of relationship between faults and
earthquakes.
Performance Standard:
1. Participates in decision making on where to build structures based on knowledge of the
location of active faults in the community.
2. Makes an emergency plan and prepare an emergency kit for use at home and in school.

Learning Competency 1: Differentiate the epicenter of an earthquake from its focus

Code: S8ES-lla-15
Learning Focus: EPICENTER VERSUS FOCUS OF AN EARTHQUAKE

EPICENTER VERSUS FOCUS

Earthquake usually begins deep inside the Earth. The point beneath the earth’s surface where
the initial slip or sliding rock takes place is called focus or hypocenter (Hypo means ‘under or
‘beneath’) and the place directly above the focus is called the epicenter, a place where the strongest
movement can be felt.

LOCATING EPICENTER

To locate the epicenter of an earthquake, we must determine it using the seismograph, an

instrument that measures and detects an earthquake from three stations. Each circle represents the
movement of the seismic wave. Each station is at the center of its circle. The diameter of the circle is

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based on the time travel measured, and the point where the three circles cross is the epicenter of an
earthquake.

Learning Competency 2: Differentiate the intensity of an earthquake from its magnitude;

Learning Focus: INTENSITY VERSUS MAGNITUDE OF AN EARTHQUAKE

There are two ways to describe the strength and how destructive an earthquake:
- by determining the intensity, and
- by determining the magnitude of an earthquake.

INTENSITY
– refers to the effects and damage caused by an earthquake.
– It is determined by actual observation or on-site inspection of the affected areas, including
interviews with the people.

The following are the several factors that affect the intensity of an earthquake:
 distance from the epicenter of the earthquake
 defective building design and substandard materials
 kind of ground (rock, sand, etc.) where structure was built
 slope of land where house was built

MAGNITUDE
– is the measure of the energy released by the earthquake measured by an instrument called
seismograph or a seismometer (Figure 8.2). The seismograph records the shaking of
the ground as wavy lines on paper.
– The stronger the shaking, the larger the waves. The magnitude is calculated from the height
of the largest wave.

INSTRUMENTS THAT MEASURE THE STRENGTH OF EARTHQUAKE

Rossi-Forel Scale and Mercalli Intensity Scale

– measure the destructiveness of an earthquake. Using these scales, they discovered some
inaccuracy in how they are going to measure the energy released by an
earthquake.

Richter Magnitude Scale

– was first developed in the year 1935 by Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of
Technology, as a tool to measure the earthquake sizes. It can calculate the
largest earthquake body wave recorded by a seismograph. Using this scale, they
discovered that a huge amount of energy cannot be reflected by the Richter
magnitude.

Seismograph
– is an instrument that detects and measures and earthquake. It can also measure the
movement which most people cannot feel. It records the movement on a thin sheet of white paper.
The higher the wavy lines are the stronger the earthquake is.

Table 8.1 shows the Earthquake Intensity Scale developed by the Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) based on the Rossi-Forel scale originally developed in
Europe.

(Note: The Rossi-Forel scale was also used as basis for the development of the 12-point Modified
Mercalli Intensity scale used in North America.)

INTENSITY DESCRIPTION DETAILS

I Scarcely Perceptible to people under favorable circumstances. Delicately
perceptible balanced objects are disturbed slightly. Still water in containers
oscillates slowly.
II Slightly felt Felt by few individuals at rest indoors. Hanging objects swing

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 slightly. Still water in containers oscillates noticeably.
III Weak Felt by many people indoors especially in upper floors of
buildings. Dizziness and nausea are experienced by some
people. Hanging objects swing moderately.
IV Moderately Felt by generally by people indoors and by some people
strong outdoors. Light sleepers are awakened. Vibration is felt like the
passing of a heavy truck. Hanging objects swing considerably. A
rumbling sound may sometimes be heard.
V Strong Generally felt by most people indoors and outdoors. Many
sleeping people are awakened. Strong shaking and rocking felt
throughout building. Hanging objects swing violently. Standing
vehicles rock noticeably.
VI Very strong Some people lose their balance. Motorists feel like they are
driving with flat tires. Heavy objects or furniture move or may be
shifted. Very old or poorly built houses and man-made
structures are slightly damaged, though well-built structures are
not affected.
VII Destructive People find it difficult to stand in upper floors. Heavy objects and
furniture overturn or topple. Some well-built structures are
slightly damaged. Some cracks may appear on dikes, fish
ponds, road surfaces or concrete hollow block walls. Trees are
shaken strongly.
VIII Very Destructive People find it difficult to stand even outdoors. Many well-built
buildings are considerably damaged. Concrete dikes and
foundations of bridges are destroyed by ground settling or
toppling. Railway tracks are bent or broken. Fissures and fault
rupture may be observed.
IX Devastating People are forcibly thrown to ground. Most buildings are totally
damaged. Bridges and elevated concrete structures are toppled
or destroyed.
X Completely Practically all man-made structures are destroyed. Massive
devastating landslides and liquefaction, subsidence and uplifting of
landforms, and many ground fissures are observed.

ACTIVITY 1 Date: _____________________

Materials:
 two 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper
 tape
 four ping pong balls or any other small balls
 scissors
 a flat, smooth surface like a table top or a kitchen counter top

(Note: Let somebody take a video of yourself doing the activity and take a picture of your output.
Then, send it to my messenger: jolina.aldiano)

Procedures:
1. Construct the “building. Create a crease down the center of the paper by
folding it in half so that the short sides of the paper match up. Then, fold each
short side of the paper in to align with the center crease. The three creases
created by this step will divide the paper into four equally sized rectangles. If
your paper looks like Figure A, move on to the next step.

2. Fold the bottom corners of the paper in toward the outer crease lines. See
Figure B.

3. Fold the bottom portion of the paper up to create a horizontal crease line
along the top of the folded corners. See Figure C.

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4. Using the scissors, make three cuts along the bottoms of the vertical
crease lines to the horizontal crease line. Figure D shows the cut lines in
red.

5. Bring the short sides of the paper together and secure with
tape. This should draw the four flaps at the base of the building
in toward each other. Fold the four flaps up, one on top of the
other, to create a base for the building and secure with tape.
The assembled building should resemble a box with no top. See
Figure E.

6. To make the building look more realistic, use a marker to

draw some windows and a door. See Figure F.

7. To create the building's foundation, tape a ping pong ball at the bottom of
each of the building corners. The best way to tape each ping pong ball is to
form a loop with a 1.5" long piece of tape so that the sticky side faces outward.
Place the tape loop on top of a ping pong ball and press it firmly to a corner on
the base of the building. Your building should look similar to Figure G, below.

Test for fixed base isolated during an earthquake:

1. Lay an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper on a smooth, flat surface like a kitchen table. This sheet of
paper represents the ground. Tape one of the building's ping pong balls to the center of the
paper using the tape ring technique described in STEP 7 above.

2. Firmly press the taped ball into the paper to ensure that it is properly attached. Make sure that
you only tape one ball! You have just made your building a fixed base building.

3. To simulate an earthquake, place your fingers on top of the paper and rapidly move your hand
back and forth. The movements should be small (no more than an inch in either direction) but
fast. Pay attention to how the building reacts to the earthquake. We will want to compare this
building's response to the response of a base isolated building.

Test for isolated base building during an earthquake:

1. Simply remove the single piece of tape used to secure the building to the flat sheet of paper.

2. Set the 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper back on the smooth surface and place the building on the
center of the paper. Because our building is no longer taped, attached, to the ground, it is
considered a base isolated system.

3. 3. Shake the paper with your hand in the same short and rapid shaking movements as before
to simulate an earthquake. Pay attention to how the building reacts to the earthquake.

Guide Questions:
1. Did you notice a difference between the movements of the building without the base isolation
system and the building that was base isolated when the earthquake struck? How does the design if
the base-isolated buildings reduce the risk of damage by earthquakes?

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________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which is likely to experience more damage during an earthquake, a house built on a solid rock
ledge or a nearby house built on a soil river bank? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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ASSESSMENT Date: _____________________

Directions: Prepare an Earthquake Logbook that highlights some of the hazards we encountered
from five earthquakes (in the Philippines or outside).

Use your previous books, newspapers or internet resources to record the following information:
a. Place and date of the earthquakes
b. Magnitude and intensity of the earthquakes
c. Damage such as collapse of bridges, buildings, houses, destruction of roads, landslides,
tsunami, liquefaction, fire, casualties.

Place and Date Magnitude Intensit Damage/Number of Casualties

of the Earthquakes y
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Name: _____________________________________________Gr. & Section: _________________________Date:__________________

Signature of Parent: ______________________Signature of Teacher: ___________________Date:____________________
FEEDBACK
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REFERENCES
1. Marrie Jessica B. Alumaga, Echel Simon-Antero, Crescencia C. Joaquin, Ricardo M. Crisostomo,
Catherine Genevieve B. Lagunzad, Alicia L. Padua, Thelma R. Mingoa. 2019. Science and
Technology 8. Vibal Group, Inc.

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2. Baja, R., Torreta N. 2017. Nurturing Science. Ephesians Publishing Inc.
3. Jason S. Madamba. 2019. Experiencing Science 8.Innovative Educational Materials, Inc.