Measuring Earthquakes

An earthquake is one of the most powerful forces on earth. On January 12, 2010 a major earthquake near Haiti's capitol city of Port-au-Prince destroyed buildings throughout this tiny nation. Thousands of lives were lost.

Try This
Scientists use an instrument called a seismograph to measure earthquakes. Try this activity with a friend to find out how a seismograph works.

1. On a table place a small toy car on a piece of paper.
2. One person holds a pencil with the lead lightly resting on the paper.
3. The other person moves the paper back and forth very slowly. What kind of line does the pencil make? Does the car move?
4. Now move the paper so that the car starts to slide around. What kind of line does the pencil make now?

Where is Haiti?

Haiti is located approximately 750 miles southeast of Florida and just to the east of Cuba. It occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti has a land mass of 10,714 sq. miles.

Haiti, an Indian word meaning "mountains," is made up of extremely mountainous country of which only 20 percent of the territory lies below 600 feet. The highest mountain in Haiti (Chain de la Sel) is almost 9,000 feet above sea level.

More Haiti information

• What does Haitian money look like?
• Haitian Flag Coloring Page
• Haiti Facts and Information
• Haitian Children's Songs
• What If Foundation