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Dibs Fall 2026

EPS SCI 8

Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, one hour; one optional field day. Description of causes and effects of earthquakes and volcanoes. Introduction to tectonic plate motion, faults, wave propagation, volcano formation, types of volcanoes, and volcanic eruptions. Review of earthquake and volcano hazard, societal consequences. Analysis of hazard reduction through earthquake forecasting, earthquake-resistant design, and volcano monitoring. P/NP or letter grading.

Course statistics

Predicted GPA
3.28
n = 748 · 8 terms · ± 0.020
A range
55%
of letter grades
Taken P/NP
8%
81% of those passed
D / F / W
5.5%
incl. withdrawals

Sections in Fall 2026

Sections offered, with live enrollment and predicted GPA
Section Status Enrolled Seat risk Meets Instructor Predicted GPA
Lec 1 Open
70 of 78
90% full
 fills TR 11:00am-12:15pm Lithgow-Bertelloni
3.28n=748 · course average

Enrollment history

Final enrollment per term, averaged across that term's sections. Four years deep, summer excluded. Per-section live curves are on each section page.

  • 15821F
  • 19722W
  • 14222S
  • 16622F
  • 2623S
  • 5924W
  • 4924F
  • 1625W
Enrolment by term: 21F 158, 22W 197, 22S 142, 22F 166, 23S 26, 24W 59, 24F 49, 25W 16
Peak 197 Most recent 16 in 25W 8 terms on record

Grade distribution

  • A+ 140 · 17.2%
  • A 179 · 22.0%
  • A- 96 · 11.8%
  • B+ 79 · 9.7%
  • B 62 · 7.6%
  • B- 55 · 6.8%
  • C+ 41 · 5.0%
  • C 34 · 4.2%
  • C- 21 · 2.6%
  • D+ 13 · 1.6%
  • D 11 · 1.4%
  • D- 3 · 0.4%
  • F 14 · 1.7%
  • P 50 · 6.2%
  • NP 12 · 1.5%
  • S 1 · 0.1%
  • I 2 · 0.2%

Grey bars are non-letter outcomes — P/NP, S/U, incompletes. They are excluded from the GPA entirely rather than scored, because counting a P as a 4.0 would be a fabrication.

By instructor

Instructor Predicted Raw n Terms A range
MENG, LINGSEN 3.47 3.47 351 3 64%
BEGHEIN, CAROLINE 3.12 3.11 269 4 49%
PELTZER, GILLES F 3.13 3.11 128 1 47%

“Predicted” is shrunk toward the course average, which is itself shrunk toward the department — so an instructor with a handful of students sits near the course mean rather than topping the list.

By term