Earthquake

This week's news has been bombarded with varying reports on the destruction in Port-au-Prince after Tuesday's 7.0 earthquake. In light of this Mr. Prendergast announced after mass on Wednesday that all missions donations this month will go to the relief effort. In science this week we read an article about the earthquake, what people have lost, what they now need and how they are surviving. There were many repeted questions and thoughts after reading the article. You can read some of them below.

Questions:
Why is Haiti so poor?

What caused the earthquake?

Why wasn't it as bad in the Dominican Republic?

How can I help the people in Haiti?

What is the name of the plate that caused this earthquake?

Thoughts:
"Maybe this was God telling us to pay attention to Haiti and help them because they need it."

"We should help people after this disaster as much as we can."

"Haiti will need help being rebuilt. We should help them rebuild safe buildings."

"It's good that so many world leaders have responded as quickly as they did."

"It's a tragedy and I am sad for all the people trying to find their families."

"I hope rescue workers can get there quickly."

"I'm thankful that the this tragedy did not happen here."


In response to some of the questions here are a few details about Tectonic plates.

Tectonic plates are what make up the Earth's crust. The plates are on average about 50 miles thick and they float on top of the Earth's Mantle. The mantle is made up of liquid magma which has currents just like ocean waters do. These currents keep the plates in constant motion. Each year plates may move a few inches. There are three different ways the plates can move:

Divergent - apart from each other. This happens at mid ocean ridges (MOR). One of the most commonly known mid ocean ridges runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This is also called a spreading center. The Atlantic Ocean becomes a few inches wider each year because of this movement.

Convergent - closer together. This happens at subduction zones. An example of a subduction zone is the coast of California or Japan. In fact there are subduction zones on most edges of the Pacific Ocean. This circle is often referred to as the Ring of Fire because of the volcanic activity that subduction can create. Subduction zones often have the most violent earthquakes because one plate slides under another plate.

Strike-Slip Faults - parallel to each other. This is the type of fault involved in the earthquake in Haiti. The San Andreas Fault is also this type of fault line.

In the instance of Haiti, USGS reports that the Caribbean plate moved eastward creating the earthquake. The fault involved is called the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault. It has not produced much movement in past years, however has been involved in major earthquakes in the past. This is the worst earthquake Haiti has seen in the last 200 years.

Keep the people of Haiti and the aid workers in your prayers.

Science Fair

Science fair is hitting the home stretch. Students have completed their experiments and are formatting their results into charts, tables and graphs to present on their boards as well as in their written reports. We will take a brief break to review for mid-terms and then we will return to writing conclusions and an abstract.

Students are coming to class with great questions about their projects and about how to use the scientific method to draw logical conclusions. It's great to see the students excited about their projects and how much time they have put into researching and learning about their topic.

The Science Fair will be held during Catholic Schools Week and there will be some evening hours where parents are welcome to come view the projects with their students.