Smart Phones Become Earthquake Trackers at Nature Fest

COOKEVILLE – They are happening all the time. Earthquakes are rumbling right under our feet, and often

we don’t even notice them.

“They are always happening,” Jeannette Wolak of Tennessee Tech’s Earth Sciences Department, said. “I

like to think of them as the crust of the earth rumbling.”

Wolak teaches geology classes at the university level and helps engineering students navigate the

concepts in play when designing buildings and bridges that will withstand the sudden release of energy

that occurs during an earthquake.

“Most people know that (the earth) has a core, mantle and crust,” Wolak said. “The crust is the outer

layer and it is constantly shifting.”

The sudden release of energy from the earth’s crust creates seismic waves. Earthquakes, Wolak says.

And a big enough shift can be felt for many miles. Last week, an earthquake in southern Missouri was

felt more than 80 miles away in western Tennessee.

“Of course we experience more of this where plates come together,” Wolak said. “But the earth is

constantly adjusting.”

But how do you know if that rumble you felt was really an earthquake? With technology, it is easy.

On Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. at Cane Creek Park’s Hilltop Shelter, Wolak will help attendees at the

2015 Nature Fest turn their smart phones into seismometers, measuring motions of the ground.

“Kids usually love to talk about earthquakes,” Wolak said. “And if they are going to use technology, why

not have them use it for science?”

Wolak will share resources to help attendees learn about and understand earthquakes and when and

where they happen. Plus, participants will get to try their hand at engineering a building to withstand an

earthquake.

With simple, small building materials, participants will be able to build a structure and then place it on

the “shake table” to see how it stands up to seismic change.

While the session is child-friendly and designed to appeal to a young audience, anyone interested in the

topic is welcome, she said.

Wolak’s Saturday presentation will be among many interactive, educational events that make up this

year’s Nature Fest that begins Thursday, April 16, with sessions continuing Friday, April 17; Saturday,

April 18 and Sunday, April 19 on Tech’s campus, at Cane Creek Park, at City Lake Natural Area and other

local areas of interest.

The annual event is presented by Cookeville Leisure Services, Tennessee Tech’s Biology Department and

the Nature Fest organizing committee. For a full schedule of this year’s events, visit

www.naturefestcookeville.com.