IRIS Animations, Webinars and Videos

Seismology topics can be difficult to convey through text or images alone, which has led to the development of a suite of over 100 animations to illustrate fundamental concepts of seismology and earth science. These clips range from a few seconds to several minutes in length, and cover basic topics like faulting and plate tectonics to more complex concepts such as focal mechanisms, seismic wave propagation and seismic tomography. Regional and event specific animations are also included. Animations that are paired with lessons, demos or other learning sequences can be found here on our site, and additional animations can be found on our YouTube Channel.

IRIS also hosts a collection of video clips and lectures designed to further enhance Earth science instructors’ understanding of new science content and support their classroom instruction of earthquake science. Many of the animations and videos also have classroom-ready activities that promote active learning of key seismology topics. 

Additionally, IRIS offers more than 150 webinars, lectures, courses and instructional videos covering topics like Python, Matlab, induced earthquakes, social media, petroleum exploration and more! IRIS even offers a complete set of lectures and exercises that focus on petroleum industry-related topics that are designed to introduce students to the basics of seismic processing and interpretation. 

Below is a short list of some of our newest animations and webinars - more are added all the time so check back often. 


A Brief History of Plate Tectonics 
What Drives Plate Tectonics?  
Plate Boundaries and Tectonic Plates 

Japan - Overview of Earthquakes and Tectonics 

Volcanic Evolution of the Pacific Northwest: 55 million year history 
Volcano Seismicity at Long Dormant Stratovolcanoes  

Tsunamis Generados por Terremotos en la Zona de Subduccion  
Explication do los Mecanismos Focales en los Terremotos 
Magnitudes: Explicación de la Magnitude de Momento 
Intensidad de Terremoto: Que Controla la Sacudida que sientas? 

Geology and Geophysics in the Petroleum Industry  

To see all of our videos, animations and webinars please visit our YouTube channel at


Published on Feb 15th, 2018 Archived Stories