CHAPTER 10: EARTHQUAKE

I.LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Discuss what an earthquake is and under what circumstance do earthquakes occur.

2. Determine which type of seismic wave causes the greatest destruction to buildings and
infrastructures and how can this be prevented.
3. List down the factors that contributed to extensive damage in areas of the country prone to
earthquakes.
4. Integrate the importance of the efforts of PHIVOLCS and other government agencies in
mitigating the hazards that earthquakes can possibly cause like the strict implementation
of the building code of the Philippines and the conduct of earthquake drills in schools and
government establishments.

II. CONTENT
A. WHAT IS AN EARTHQUAKE
It is the vibration of Earth produced by the rapid release of energy.
According to the Plate Tectonics Theory, plates are moving in slow, continual motion with
respect to one another. In some areas, plates are being driven apart; in others, the plates slide
past each other and in subduction zones, plates push directly into each other causing one plate
to slide beneath the other.

B. EARTHQUAKE WAVES
Seismographs are instruments that record earthquake waves. A weight is freely
suspended from a support that is attached to a bedrock. When waves from an earthquake
reach the instrument, the inertia of the weight keeps it stationary, while the Earth and the
support vibrate. The movement of the Earth then, in relation to the stationary weight is
recorded in a rotating drum. The records produced by the seismographs are called
seismograms.

C. TYPES OF WAVES
1. Surface Waves – waves that travel along the Earth’s outer layer. When these
waves travel along the ground, they cause it and anything resting on the ground to
move similar to how rough seas can toss a boat. It has up and down and a side to side
motion that cause most of the structural damage to buildings and their foundation.
2. Body Waves – waves that travel through the Earth’s interior.
 Primary Waves (P waves) – seismic waves that push (compress) and pull
(expand) rocks in the direction the wave is travelling. These waves can
travel through solids, liquids and gases.
 Secondary Waves (S waves) – seismic waves that shake the particles at
right angles to their direction of travel and temporarily change the shape
of the material that transmits the weathering.
 Seismogram

https://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/seismograph#.XzqHN4BR1PY

D. FINDING EARTHQUAKE EPICENTERS

 Focus is the place within the Earth where earthquake waves originate.
 The epicenter is the location on the surface directly above the focus.
 Epicenter can be located by using seismograms from earthquakes.
 From these, travel time graphs are constructed, and then the distance separating the
recording station from the earthquake can be determined by:
 Determine the time interval between the arrival of the first P wave and the S wave.
 Find on the travel time graph the equivalent time spread between the P and S wave
curves.

In 1935, Charles Richter of the California Institute of Technology introduced the

concept of earthquake magnitude. The chart below describes earthquake intensity and
magnitude.

https://www.skymetweather.com/content/weather-news-and-analysis/earthquake-relation-between-magnitude-
and-intensity-decoded/
 E. PHILIPPINE EARTHQUAKES

STUDIES SHOW THAT:

1. Southern Philippines is the seismically most active part of the country.
2. The southeast or seaward side near the Philippine trench has been the epicenter of
several large earthquakes.
3. Another intense seismic activity has also been observed in the area between the
Philippine trench and the Philippine Fault System.
4. In general, seismic activity on the Philippine fault is concentrated between 10 degrees
and 15 degrees north.

F. CAN EARTHQUAKES BE PREDICTED

There are three kinds if pieces of evidence used for predicting earthquakes
which might help to minimize loss of life and property:
1. Statistical Data -from the frequency of earlier recorded quakes in a given region,
general statistical statements about future probabilities can be made like the
occurrence of an earthquake every ten months or after many years.
2. Seismic Gaps - from the seismic activity registered at monitoring stations along plate
boundaries, scientists can determine which regions have been slipping and therefore
releasing built-up strains and which regions have been quiet – seismic gaps that
point to deficits in motion and indicate that stresses are building up.
The seismic gaps are the most likely places for earthquakes to occur.

3. Earthquake Precursors - these are things that happen or rock properties that change
prior to an earthquake.
 Kinds of Precursors:
 Seismicity – swarm of small tremors called foreshocks frequently
precede a major earthquake.
 Subsidence and Uplift – vertical movement of the surface of the land
indicates a build-up strain in the crust.
 Wave Speeds – a Russian seismologist had successfully predicted
several major quakes shortly after a change in the ratio of P and S
waves. Velocity changes the strain of the rocks as well as water content
and other factors.
 Water levels in wells – underground water levels often rise or fall
before earthquakes which happened in China in 1975.

 Geoelectricity – as water content in rocks changes, so does the

electrical resistance. When rocks become strained and microscopic
cracks appear, more water can enter, lowering electrical resistance.
 Strains – the build-up of strain along fault lines can be measured by
determining the relative displacement between two points. Changes in
rates f displacement could indicate a coming earthquake.
  Radon Content of Water – radon is a slightly radioactive gas found
naturally in ground and well water. An initial build-up spanning 10
years, followed by a sudden drop of radon in water was observed in
Russia shortly before a major quake.
 Animal Behavior – some animals have been claimed to show unusual
and restless behaviour just before an earthquake but its validity is not
yet established.

G. THE PHILIPPINES AS AN EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY

The following are identified earthquake generators in the Philippines:

1. Philippine Trench
2. East Luzon Trench
3. Manila Trench
4. Collisional zone between Palawan and Mindoro
5. Negros Trench
6. Collisional zone between Zamboanga Peninsula and Western Mindanao
7. Sulu, Cotabato and Davao Trench
8. Philippine Fault Zone and its many branches
9. Many active faults (Lubang, Tablas, Casiguran and Mindanao faults)

https://iisee.kenken.go.jp/net/shiva/philippine/tectonics_1.htm
 THINGS TO DO DURING AND AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE

https://governmentph.com/what-to-do-before-during-and-after-an-earthquake-phivolcs/
COMMON EARTHQUAKE DAMAGES
LIQUEFACTION LANDSLIDE

FIRE
 TSUNAMI

These are destructive waves generated by earthquakes and most result from
displacement along a fault located on the ocean floor or from a large underwater landslide
triggered by an earthquake.
It can advance across the oceans at speeds between 500 to 950 kilometers but
in open ocean it can pass undetected because its height is usually less than a meter.
III. REFERENCES

A. BOOKS

Thompson and Turk, Introduction to Earth Science, 2012

Braganza, C. S., Earth Science, 2005

Tarbuck and Lutgens, Earth Science, 2002

Timothy Kusky, Ph.D. ENCYCLOPEDIA of Earth and Space Science, 2010

Thompson and Sammonds, Advances in Earth Science From Earthquakes to Global Warming,
2007

B. INTERNET SOURCES:

https://www.sms-tsunami-warning.com/pages/seismograph#.XzqHN4BR1PY

https://www.skymetweather.com/content/weather-news-and-analysis/earthquake-relation-
between-magnitude-and-intensity-decoded/

https://iisee.kenken.go.jp/net/shiva/philippine/tectonics_1.htm

https://governmentph.com/what-to-do-before-during-and-after-an-earthquake-phivolcs/

www.phivolcs.gov.ph

http://www.csfamilyrx.com/?attachment_id=326youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci-ABWPG7LQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mCqYwkExzA

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/why-ocean-matters

http://dusk.geo.orst.edu/oceans/PPT/PlateMotion.swf