Archive: What Happens When the Earth Shakes? Understanding Earthquakes and Earthquake Alerts, October 22, 2026

Join us to learn about earthquakes and the USGS-led ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System.

Earthquakes happen without warning, but scientists have powerful tools for detecting them, communicating their impacts, and using this information for public safety. In this web seminar, we will examine earthquake hazards across the United States and explore how earthquake waves impact people and the built environment. Through videos and case studies, participants will learn how scientists measure earthquake impacts and communicate risk. We will discuss how the U.S. Geological Survey-led ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System detects earthquakes quickly enough to alert people before strong shaking arrives. Along the way, we will explore several USGS products that help educators, emergency managers, and the public make sense of an earthquake and its aftermath, including ShakeMap, Aftershock Forecasting, PAGER, and the Ground Failure tool.

All individuals receive a certificate of participation and 100 NSTA activity points for attending the live seminar and completing the end-of-program survey. A certificate of participation is not awarded for watching the recorded version of the program.

We invite you to register for upcoming web seminars at NSTA.

View the Archive Video

To view the presentation slides from the web seminar and related resources, visit the resource collection. Continue discussing this topic in the community forums.

Below are comments from individuals who attended the seminar:

  • "I liked how detailed the seminar was and how many examples were provided. It made more confusing and challenging concepts easier to understand and I was able to relate it to real life scenarios."
  • "I really enjoyed the visuals. I also enjoyed the presenter because he made it very interesting."
  • "This was a very interesting presentation. I have never lived in a high risk area for earthquakes but found the seminar very interesting and was quite surprised by the number of earthquakes in Alaska."

A certificate of attendance was deposited into participants' account page for completing the evaluation form at the end of the program.

For more information contact us.

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