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Ground Movers · read a moving Earth

Ground Movers

Compare four earthquakes, sort shallow from deep, and turn a set of numbers into a careful map story.

Ages 8–12 · together or alone 15–20 minutes

The ground can move in many places and at many depths. Read the numbers as clues, compare them carefully, and make a map story without turning a data point into a prediction.

Start here

Choose a ground-moving report

Pick one card, notice what its numbers show, and keep one question open for the next piece of evidence.

United States

12 km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, California

20:17 UTC
Magnitude
M 3.0
Depth
2.9 km deep

A shallow California event, only about 3 km below the surface.

USGS event page ↗

Russia

169 km SSE of Vilyuchinsk

19:33 UTC
Magnitude
M 4.3
Depth
35 km deep

A middle-depth event with the largest magnitude in this small set.

USGS event page ↗

Philippines

192 km SSE of Sarangani

19:16 UTC
Magnitude
M 4.2
Depth
386 km deep

The deepest report in this set—more than 300 km below the surface.

USGS event page ↗

Turkey

16 km ENE of Çelikhan

18:43 UTC
Magnitude
M 4.2
Depth
10 km deep

A shallow report with the same rounded magnitude as the Philippines event.

USGS event page ↗

Fixed snapshot harvested from the USGS All Earthquakes, Past Day feed on 2026-08-25 UTC. These cards are descriptive, not live alerts, predictions, or safety guidance. Feed source ↗

The trail

Four ways in

4 missions
  1. 1

    Magnitude

    Compare the magnitudes

    Magnitude gives you one way to compare the size of an event. It is a number to investigate, not a danger score.

    Which two reports match to one decimal place, and which report has the largest magnitude?

    Compare magnitudes
  2. 2

    Depth

    Order the depths

    Put the four depths in order from nearest the surface to farthest below it. The order tells a different story from the magnitude order.

    How much deeper is Sarangani than Ocotillo Wells in the snapshot?

    Order the depths
  3. 3

    Map

    Plot the moving places

    Give each report a place on a map. A location turns a naked number into something you can picture and question.

    Which two reports would make the longest route if you connected them?

    Plot the reports
  4. 4

    Claim

    Write a careful claim

    Separate what this snapshot shows from what it cannot tell you. Good data stories leave room for the unknown.

    What can you say about these four reports, and what would require more data?

    Check the claim
Map the reports Print a coordinate grid All missions