This display is continually updated with current newspaper, magazine, and Internet articles about scientific activities of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Seismometer & Seismograph
A working seismometer and seismograph can be observed.
A seismometer (such as the one on the left) "feels" movement of the rock it sits upon. The motion is transferred through the use of a heavy spring-suspended weight wrapped in coils of wire inside a magnet on the frame of the instrument.
The coil of wire generates an electrical signal that is amplified and displayed on a drum recorder, such as the one the visitors observe above or in the close-ups to the right and below.
Seismologists use the seismogram, a written record of seismic motion, to determine the magnitude of an earthquake. With several seismometers placed in different locations, it is possible to locate earthquakes by carefully measuring the time when the seismic waves from earthquakes arrive at each seismometer. This process is called triangulation.
A seismometer (such as the one on the left) "feels" movement of the rock it sits upon. The motion is transferred through the use of a heavy spring-suspended weight wrapped in coils of wire inside a magnet on the frame of the instrument.
