Explore the Earth’s Hidden Vibrations with Raspberry Shake

You don’t need to live in California—or even feel an earthquake—to detect fascinating vibrations beneath your feet. From passing trucks and airplanes to thunderstorms, fireworks, meteors, and distant earthquakes on the other side of the world, Raspberry Shake is a small, low-cost seismograph that lets anyone become a citizen scientist—right from home.

In this meetup, we’ll explore how Raspberry Shake works, how you can build your own, and what kinds of vibrations it can detect in Fort Bend and Greater Houston (yes—even without local earthquakes). We’ll view real seismic data using free online tools and learn how to spot local rumbles, distant earthquakes (teleseisms), and even how these recordings can reveal clues about the structure of the Earth and the soil beneath our feet.

Whether you're a science enthusiast or just curious about “what was that noise?”—this is a fun and collaborative way to connect Houston to the dynamic Earth we all share.

Curious to explore more?
We’ll point you to free tools where you can browse waveforms from Raspberry Shake stations across the globe and share tips on how to download data, set up your own Shake, and get involved in the citizen science community. Feel free to bring a laptop if you’d like—but it’s totally optional!

This meetup description and image were developed with assistance from ChatGPT and DALL·E, AI tools by OpenAI (2025).

References:

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (GPT-4o, July 2025 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

OpenAI. (2025). DALL·E image generator. https://openai.com/dall-e

Raspberry Shake. Raspberry Shake personal seismograph network. https://raspberryshake.org

About the speaker:
Dr. Lisa Schleicher has Ph.D. and M.S. in Geology from the University of Maryland and B.S. in Environmental Studies from UNC Asheville. She has worked on planetary missions with the Smithsonian Institution mapping faults on Mercury on the Moon and on seismic safety oversight of nuclear facilities. She currently lives in Mountain View, CA where she works at the United States Geological Survey on strong motion earthquake datasets for engineering and seismic hazard applications. She plays with Raspberry Shake as a hobbiest and for continued learning about wiggles.

This workshop is organized by Fort Bend Science. Our goal is to cultivate a community interested in science, computers, math, and technology. If you want to make a presentation, email fortbendscience@gmail.com. For more information visit www.fortbendscience.org.

Doors open at 1:45. There is space for the first 10 people who arrive. Attendance is free and open to the public