This new addition to the Hall features a large three-drum seismograph that constantly monitors and records ground shaking as it occurs at stations in Fairbanks, Alaska; Tucson, Arizona; and Matsushiro, Japan. The station also features a wide, color plasma screen on which a map of the world alternates with one of the United States, both of which show current, real-time seismic activity. Red dots indicate that day's events, orange indicates those occurring the day before, yellow shows events within the previous two weeks, and purple dots code for events in the past five years. The size of yellow rings around each dot indicates the earthquake's magnitude.

The seismograph records and illustrates real-time seismic data for the public via a global network of seismic stations accessible in real-time to the Museum and other similar institutions. Although some earthquakes are deadly and destructive events, the seismograph shows that earthquakes of various magnitudes are daily occurrences on Earth, signals of the geological processes that shape the planet's surface. Through exhibits like these, visitors can learn that Earth is a dynamic planet with a crust covered by constantly moving plates that create ocean basins, continents, islands, and mountain ranges.

Using stationary pens fixed on rotating mechanical drums of white paper, the seismograph records the squiggly-line signals of current earthquakes in different parts of the world broadcast to the Museum in real-time via the Internet. Above the seismograph, a monitor lists the times, magnitudes, and geographic locations of earthquakes that have occurred within the past few days. These data are updated every 10 minutes. The wide-screen color monitor displays the locations of recent earthquakes as color-coded symbols on global maps based on satellite data.

The real-time seismograph exhibit was donated to the Museum by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and the U.S. Geological Survey, with support from the National Science Foundation.