Calif. quake finds epicenters aplenty on the Web
The Net has a tectonic plateful of sites brimming with information on Tuesday's 6.0-magnitude earthquake, and more.
Most Web surfers likely flocked to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site, which offers real-time information on earthquakes in the United States and overseas. The site allows people to pinpoint the location of an earthquake on a map and learn about its magnitude and intensity.
A more global view of temblors is available via the World-Wide Earthquake Locator run out of the University of Edinburgh. The interactive site allows viewers to locate the nearest tectonic plates, rivers and political boundaries of the epicenter.
As more homes become equipped with computers and Internet access, the Net has become a leading source for emergency information. Hurricane Charley's progress, for example, was well documented on various Web sites. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks also drove Web users to their computers for the latest developments.
More information on Tuesday's quake can be found at a number of regional sites. The Web site of the Southern California Earthquake Center, for instance, offers data on recent earthquakes throughout California and features such links as a color-coded topographical map of the various fault lines. The center is a consortium of organizations and universities such as the California Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley.
SCEC also offers safety and earthquake preparedness information, as well as material on the science of earthquakes.
Information on Northeast earthquakes can be found at a Web site run by Boston College that features the date, location and magnitude of regional earthquakes. The site includes a link to let people review the seismic waves. of an earthquake