Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.
This is the text (if you need help).
It's a little hard to believe, but Iceland has experienced 18,000 earthquakes in the space of a week. Most of them have been too small to feel. The largest quake was on February 24 and was a magnitude 5.6. The seismic activity suggests that a volcano in the southwest of Iceland may be about to erupt. Volcanoes in southwestern Iceland have been dormant for over 800 years, but seismologists believe an eruption could be imminent. Iceland is a volcanic island and is used to the occasional tremor. However, swarms of quakes have unsettled residents in the capital city Reykjavik. Scientists say despite the large number of quakes, there has been very little damage.
Iceland is situated on top of the meeting of tectonic plates deep in the earth. Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust around 100km thick on which Earth's land mass sits. The plates below Iceland are continually splitting apart and pushing North America and Eurasia away from each other at an infinitesimally slow rate. Living on a tectonic plate means seismic activity is inevitable. One Reykjavik resident spoke about his anxiety caused by the 18,000 recent quakes. He said: "I have experienced earthquakes before, but never so many in a row. It is very unusual to feel the Earth shake 24 hours a day for a whole week. It makes you feel very small and powerless against nature."
Comprehension questions- How many of the 18,000 earthquakes were too small to feel?
- What was the magnitude of the largest earthquake?
- How long have volcanoes in southwest Iceland been dormant?
- What is the collective noun for earthquakes or tremors?
- How thick are tectonic plates?
- What is being pushed away from North America?
- What does the article say living on a tectonic plate means?
- What did a Reykjavik resident feel about the 18,000 quakes?
- What has the Reykjavik not experienced before?
- What did the resident say he felt impotent against?
Back to the earthquakes lesson.
