Natural Resources Canada will be implementing an earthquake early warning system for the earthquake-prone portions of the country.
To get an alert of an earthquake, so one could take proper action (drop, cover, hold on) depends on two kinds of information about the earthquake, (1) the magnitude, how much energy the earthquake is releasing, and (2) the intensity, the amount of shaking taking place in any location because of the earthquake.
Unfortunately, many people conflate earthquake magnitude with earthquake intensity causing confusion about why one did or did not get an alert. It is important that people understand why they did or did not receive an alert for any single earthquake event to maintain trust in the system so that alert receivers will take appropriate measures to save life and property.
This project will explore what the people know about magnitude and intensity and propose ways to enhance their understanding of the concepts.
The Problem
Magnitude and Intensity are often confused, potentially resulting in poor public responses to earthquake early warning systems.
The Approaches
To solve this problem, the project takes three different but complimentary approaches.

The Research Team

Shona van Zijll de Jong
PhD: Research Associate

Esther Njeri Muturi
MSc Student
Esther Njeri Muturi is a petroleum officer (geophysicist) with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, Kenya. Previously she worked as a processing geophysicist at the Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting (BGP) CNPC, Nairobi Processing Center. Her previous MSc Thesis was based on application of integrated geophysical techniques for groundwater potential evaluation in hard fractured basement: Mutito fault zone, Kenya.

Josephine Bellizzi
MSc Student
Josephine Bellizzi is a MSc Student working on the Linguistic Approach of this project. Previously they worked as a research assistant at the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with the University of Oregon.

Dr. Glenn Dolphin
Primary Investigator
Glenn Dolphin is the Tamaratt Teaching Professor in Geoscience. His research focuses on how students learn in geology and he is especially interested in how the use of history and the use of metaphor influences student learning.
Be a Part of the Research
Please participate in a survey examining Canadians' understanding of earthquakes and especially earthquake magnitude and intensity.