An Immersive Experience of the Brawley Seismic Zone Using Virtual Reality

Katie M. Baraggiotta, Katina M. Carranza, & Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos

Published September 8, 2024, SCEC Contribution #13934, 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #195 (PDF)

In this work, we focused on developing a Virtual Reality (VR) experience to visualize seismic activity in California, with emphasis on the Brawley Seismic Zone (BSZ). Our VR experience vividly illustrates seismicity in the BSZ and surrounding faults that contribute to frequent seismic swarm activity and interactions with the physical environment. It offers an immersive and interactive way to observe seismic phenomena to enhance understanding among elementary students, making complex geological concepts comprehensible and engaging. Furthermore, we implemented a Google survey to inform our outreach plans and assess the need for earthquake science educational materials in elementary grade classrooms (K-8th) in the Brawley Elementary School District (BESD). The findings will help us understand BESD students' knowledge of earthquake concepts. Our VR activity stems from a VR environment previously implemented in ParaView and is based on UCERF3 (Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast 3) and other information layers. Here, we sought to create an updated experience with additional features that will highlight the complexity of the BSZ. The new experience includes the updated SCEC Community Fault Model (CFM 6.1), an urban environment layout (e.g., cities with buildings extracted from OpenStreetMap) retrieved using blender (.org), and 3D spheres representing clouds of seismicity and recent and past swarms. The Google Forms survey conducted during the BESD summer session involved answering questions via raise-of-hand in a group classroom setting. The questions assessed students' understanding of earthquake science and their perception of seismic events. We utilized MATLAB, Blender, and Rstudio to enrich and update the VR environment. Although VR tools are not yet implemented in schools, they represent a significant advancement in helping students intuitively grasp seismic phenomena. This project highlights the potential of immersive technologies to enhance education and preparedness in seismically active regions. Future enhancements will focus on adding interactive elements that allow users to manipulate earthquake variables and integrate more in-depth explanatory content, furthering their understanding and potentially transforming earthquake education.

Key Words
Virtual Reality, Brawley Seismic Zone, Seismic Swarms

Citation
Baraggiotta, K. M., Carranza, K. M., & Kyriakopoulos, C. (2024, 09). An Immersive Experience of the Brawley Seismic Zone Using Virtual Reality. Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Community Capability Building (CCB)