What is an earthquake?

Topic 9 : Earthquakes

USGS

Roughly 1,000 damaging earthquakes occur each year.

 3 m offset
1906 San Francisco Earthquake

The mechanism for earthquake generation, which Reid

deduced from these facts is term elastic rebound.
 Earthquake (Seismic Slip)
• Energy releases from a dynamic earth occur
along faults
• Earth’s crust moves very slow
– over time enough stress builds up and a brittle
release occurs - an Earthquake
• Stress is released and transferred
– Elastic Rebound
• Actual site of the first movement along a
fault is the focus (or hypocenter)
• Actual point on the earth’s surface directly
above the focus is the epicenter
We know that most earthquakes result from movements
along large fractures called faults.
 Seismic Waves
• Energy released by an earthquake will send
seismic waves out from the focus
• Body Wave – travels through the interior of
the earth
– P waves are compression waves
– S waves are shear waves but pass only through
solid rock (not magma)
• Surface wave – travels along the surface
– Larger ground displacement than body waves
– Results in most earthquake damage
One of these wave types travels along the outer part of
Earth. These are called surface waves.
Others travel through Earth’s interior and are called
body waves.
 Seismic waves
1. Body Waves
a. P-Waves
1. Primary, pressure, push-pull
2. vibrates parallel to the direction of wave propagation.
3. Travel fastest of the seismic waves
4. Travel through solids and liquids

b. S-Waves
1. Secondary, shaking, shear, side-to-side ( and )
2. vibrates perpendicular to the direction of wave
propagation.
 Seismic waves
1. Surface waves
a. Long waves
b. Complex motion.
c. Up-and-down and side-to-side
d. Slowest
e. Causes damage to structures during an earthquake

• Rayleigh waves - like waves on the ocean.

• Love waves - side to side waves.
Seismic Wave Types
 Locating the Epicenter
• Energy released from an earthquake must travel
through the earth
– Density of rock will affect the travel time for waves
– Waves move fast through high density rocks
– Waves move slow through low density rocks
• Seismograph detects ground movement and can
be useful in calculating the location of an epicenter
– Records arrival of different seismic waves
– Interval of time between the first arrivals of P waves
and S waves is a function of distance to the epicenter
– Requires at least 3 seismographs to locate an
earthquake
The study of earthquake waves, seismology, dates back to
the Chinese almost 2000 years ago.
In principle at least, modern seismographs, instruments
that record seismic waves, are not unlike those used by
the early Chinese.
The records obtained from seismographs, called
seismograms, provide a great deal of information about
the behavior of seismic waves.
 Sample Seismogram

May, 1996 Duval earthquake near Seattle - Magnitude 5.4

 Locating an earthquake
1. 1st Arrival Time of P and S waves
2. Travel Time Curve → Distance
3. Triangulation to locate Epicenter
First Arrivals - Seismographic Records
Distance - Time Relations
Graph used to find distance to epicenter
From this information we conclude that this earthquake
occurred somewhere along a circle centered around
Nagpur with a radius of 3200 km.
From this information we conclude that this earthquake
occurred somewhere along a circle centered around
Nagpur with a radius of 3200 km.
Drawing a circle with a radius of 4900 km centered of
Darwin, we see that the earthquake occurred at one of
two sites.
Drawing a circle with a radius of 4900 km centered of
Darwin, we see that the earthquake occurred at one of
two sites.
With this final piece of data we conclude that earthquake
occurred in northern China.
With this final piece of data we conclude that earthquake
occurred in northern China.
With this final piece of data we conclude that earthquake
occurred in northern China.
By establishing the locations of thousands of earthquakes,
seismologists have determined that these destructive
forces are concentrated along few narrow zones.
 Earthquake Energy
• Energy is released during an earthquake
– As the waves of energy are transmitted
through the rock, this energy will be felt by
people at the surface
• Magnitude (a objective approach) : the
amount of ground motion related to an
earthquake
• Intensity (a subjective approach) : effect
on humans, and their structures, caused by
the energy released by an earthquake
MAGNITUDE instrument detection
1. Richter Scale
– Concept introduced by Richter in 1935
– Based on amplitude of largest seismic wave
recorded
– Largest magnitude recorded on a Wood-
Anderson seismograph was 8.9
– Magnitudes less than 2.0 are not felt by humans
– Each unit of Richter magnitude increase
corresponds to a tenfold increase in wave
amplitude and a 32-fold energy increase
Magnitute 5.0 is about 318,000 tones of TNT

Hiroshima atomic bomb release 13,000 tones of TNT

MAGNITUDE instrument detection
2. Moment Magnitude (Mw)
– It was developed because none of the “Richter-
like” magnitude scales adequately estimates the
size of very large earthquakes
– Derived from the amount of displacement that
occurs along a fault
– So, it expresses the total energy released over the
entire fault zone
 INTENSITY subjective
3. Intensity scales
– This scale is based on the amount of vibration
people feel during low-magnitude quakes, and
the extent of building damage during high-
magnitude quakes.
– Drawback is that destruction may not be true
measure of earthquakes actual severity.
– Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale was developed
using California buildings as its standard
– The drawback of intensity scales is that
destruction may not be a true measure of the
earthquakes actual severity
 Modified Mercalli Scale
¤ Measures earthquake intensity.
¤ Describes damage to structures.
¤ Ranges:
¤ From I (felt by only a few)
¤ To XII (total panic and destruction).
¤ Intensity of an earthquake depends on:
¤ Distance to epicenter
¤ Building materials and design
¤ Type of ground material - soil, rock, etc.
Modified Mercalli Intensity Index (1931)

1886 Charleston, SC earthquake

Effects of Earthquakes
Pancake-Style Collapse — 1985 Mexico City Quake

Earthquakes don’t kill people - buildings do!

Effects of Soil Liquefaction, Japanese Quakes, 1964
Ground Failure
Panorama of the Destroyed City by fire
Refugees in one of the Army camps waiting for water
 December 26, 2004 Earthquake

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra. An

estimated 1200 km (750 miles) of faultline slipped about 15 (45 ft).
December 26, 2004 TSUNAMI

The earthquake spawned tsunamis

throughout the Pacific ocean island nations.
The beaches of Khao Lak,
Thailand were struck by a
tsunami 2-3 hours after
the magnitude 9.0
earthquake of December
26, 2004. Although 500 km
away from the epicenter,
the waves were 10 meters
(33 feet) high. Buildings
and vegetation were
scoured by the waves,
leaving foundations and
bare soil. Beach sand was
also removed by the
tsunamis.
Banda Aceh Shore,
before and after 2004
tsunami.
Mosque surrounded by devastation, > 700 bodies retrieved from
Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Khao Lake resort near Phuket.

All inhabitants killed, Woman weeps over the loss of her

Malingee, Indonesia. children, India.
December 26, 2004 TSUNAMI

DEATH TOLL 162,000

Seismic Hazard Map, Middle East
Seismic Waves Paths Through the Earth
 Earth’s Layered Structure
Discovering Earth’s Layers
◆ Moho ˇ´
• Velocity of seismic waves increases abruptly below
50 km of depth
• Separates crust from underlying mantle
◆ Shadow Zone
• Absence of P waves from about 105 degrees to
140 degrees around the globe from an earthquake
• Can be explained if Earth contains a core
composed of materials unlike the overlying mantle
Earth’s Interior Showing P and S Wave Paths
Seismic waves are useful in determining the location of
earthquakes. More importantly, seismic waves provide a
tool for probing Earth’s interior.
 Earth’s Layered Structure

Discovering Earth’s Composition

◆ Crust
• Early seismic data and drilling technology
indicate that the continental crust is mostly made
of lighter, granitic rocks.
◆ Mantle
• Composition is more speculative.
• Some of the lava that reaches Earth’s surface
comes from asthenosphere within.
 Earth’s Layered Structure

Discovering Earth’s Composition

◆ Core
• Earth’s core is thought to be mainly dense iron
and nickel, similar to metallic meteorites. The
surrounding mantle is believed to be composed
of rocks similar to stony meteorites.
The End