P1_2 Quake, Rattle and Roll

Abstract

In this paper, the feasibility of using bass frequencies from sub-woofer speakers to create earthquakes registering as a 9.0 on the Richter scale was explored. To answer this question, we calculated the displacement caused by the speakers that were situated just under the Earth's surface, which produced an amplitude value of $3 * 10^{-8} m$. The final conclusion that we came to was that, while it would be theoretically possible to release the same amount of energy as a 9.0 quake, without an unfeasibly large area to accommodate a speaker of immense physical dimensions, the displacement value would be too low to be felt compared natural quakes.