Question

1. in september, 2010, the us geological survey published the scatter plot below depicting earthquakes that occurred at magnitude 5.0 or higher from 1990 to september, 2010. looking at the data points falling above a 7.5 magnitude, draw a line of best fit from 1990 through september, 2010. which observation about the occurrence of strong earthquakes (magnitude 7.5 or higher) from 1990 - 2010 can be made based on the graph and the line of best fit? earthquakes located by the neic magnitude 5 and greater oa.) there are an increasing number of strong earthquakes occurring over the time period. ob.) the number of strong earthquakes is about the same over the time period.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the scatter - plot

The scatter - plot shows earthquake magnitudes over the years from 1990 - 2010. We are interested in the data points above magnitude 7.5.

Step2: Check the trend of data points (magnitude ≥ 7.5)

If we consider the number of data points (representing earthquakes with magnitude 7.5 or higher) over the years 1990 - 2010, we observe that the number of such data points (strong earthquakes) does not show a clear increasing trend. The density of points (for magnitude ≥ 7.5) above the line (if we were to draw a line of best fit) is relatively constant over the time period.

Answer:

B. The number of strong earthquakes is about the same over the time period.