LESSON # 01 Seismology

PREVIEW

Basic Concepts

Earthquake Components

Seismic hazard

Seismic Risk
EARTH AND ITS
STRUCTURE
Primarily Consists of 4 Layers
 Crust
 Mantle
 Outer Core
 Inner Core

Crust thickness : 5-40 km

 5-15 km

Mantle: 2900 km
 Lithosphere – 120 km
 Asthenosphere – 200 km

Core – 2200 km
EARTH AND ITS STRUCTURE
PLATE TECTONICS
Concept of Continental Drifts
7 Major Plates and Many Smaller Ones
Subduction Zones
Interplate earthquakes
Intraplate Earthquakes
Active Faults
Dip Slip Faults
Strike Slip Faults
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
TECTONIC PLATES
SUBDUCTION ZONES
FAULTS
OTHER TERMS
CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKE
2 Theories exist
 Elastic Strain Energy Theory
 Phase Change Theory

Elastic Strain energy Theory

 Strain Energy Keeps on Adding up
 Tends to release
 Elastic Rebound

Phase Change Theory

 Phase Change of Material / Mantle or Crust
 Strongly Supports generation of Deep Earthquakes
ELASTIC STRAIN ENERGY /
REBOUND THEORY
EARTHQUAKE
PROPAGATION
Upon Origination of Earthquake, waves travels from point of
Generation
 Body Waves
 Surface Waves

Body Waves are further of 2 types

 P waves
 S Waves

P waves arrive earlier than S waves

 P Waves : 5-7 km/sec
 S Waves: 3-4 km/sec
EARTHQUAKE
PROPAGATION
EARTHQUAKE
PROPAGATION
P Waves Velocity Formula is

S Wave Velocity formula is

Duration of Primary Tremor: (Time difference between the P and S

wave)
EARTHQUAKE
PROPAGATION
Surface Waves are
 L waves (Love Waves)
 R waves (Reliegh Waves)

Types of Earthquake
 Single Jolt

 A moderately Long and Irregular Motion

 A Long ground motion with pronounced periods of vibration

 Ground Motions causing permanent deformation of ground

 White Noise
EARTHQUAKE
MEASUREMENTS
Are measured for
 Magnitude
 Intensity

Focus
Epicenter
Epicentral Distance
Focal Distance
Hypocentral Distance
Fore Shocks
After Shocks
EARTHQUAKE
MEASUREMENTS
EARTHQUAKE
MAGNITUDE
It is the measure of Strain Energy Released during Earthquake
The concept was developed by Wadati and Richter in 1935

The value is a unique number and generally have maximum value

of 8.5.
Earthquake of magnitude < 2.5 are generally not felt by Humans.
RICHTER SCALE
EARTHQUAKE
MAGNITUDES
Local Magnitude
 Denoted by ML corresponds for Local event in South California
 it is the log of maximum amplitude that is obtained from record of a seismic
event using a Wood – Anderson Torsional Seismograph located 100 km from the
epicenter of earthquake.
 The equipment must have natural period of Vibration 0.8 sec, damping of 80%
and magnification of 2800.
 The relative size of the event is calculated through comparison

 Its modified form is used using CODA Length (T).

 Total time that a signal has emerged to the time when it merges to background
noise
WOOD ANDERSON
SEISMOGRAPH
BODY WAVE MAGNITUDE
Guttenberg and Richter proposed another magnitude parameter
based on amplitude of “P Waves”.

Usually this scale is used for long period earthquakes of 5 to 15

secs
SURFACE WAVE
MAGNITUDE
Guttenberg and Richter developed expression to estimate the
magnitude of Surface Waves.
This method require precise knowledge of wave amplitude as a
function of distance.
It uses the amplitude of Soil rather than recorded amplitude
This expression could be used for recording the surface waves with
period up to 20 secs.
SEISMIC MOMENT
MAGNITUDE
Another parameter is seismic moment.
A rupture along a fault involve equal and opposite forces, producing
couple

This scale is considered to be most accurate way of measuring the

seismic magnitude.
The seismic moment is related to Magnitude as follows.
COMPARISON OF
MAGNITUDE SCALES
USEFUL INFORMATION
ENERGY RELEASE
The strain energy that is released is expressed in Joules and is
estimated as follows.

Newmark and Rosenblueth compared the energy with Nuclear

Explosion
A Magnitude earthquake of 7.3 would release = 50 Megaton
Nuclear Explosion
7.2 Earthquake = 10 x 6.2 earthquake and 32 times more energy
8.0 Earthquake = 1000 x 6.0 Earthquake Energy
INTENSITY
Its subjective measure as felt by Human being
Many Scales exist
 Gastaldi 1564
 Pignafaro 1783
 Rossi – Forel 1883

The Mercalli 1905 and Cancani 1904 is widely used

Modified Mercalli – Cancacni – Seiberg Scale as by Neuman in 1931
The Scale is also known as Modified Mercalli Scale
Has 12 Scales
MM SCALE
INTENSITY
Some relationships exist for conversion of Subjective Intensity Scales to
Magnitudes
Guttenberg and Richter proposed following

Esteva and Rosenblueth Proposed

Another Parameter is PGA. Peak Ground Acceleration

Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) is equal to the maximum ground
acceleration that occurred during earthquake shaking at a
location. PGA is equal to the amplitude of the largest absolute acceleration
recorded on an accelerogram at a site during a particular earthquake
SEISMOGRAPH
Seismographs are instruments used to record the motion of
the ground during an earthquake. As the seismograph shakes
under the mass, the recording device on the mass records the
relative motion between itself and the rest of the instrument, thus
recording the ground motion. (Ref USGS)
SEISMOGRAPH
SOIL AND EARTHQUAKE
Soil Deposits Change the Response of Seismic Waves

Observations from Mexico 1985 and Loma Preita 1989 Earthquake revealed that
 At an epicentral distance of 300 km, PGA was recorded only 0.03g of an 8.1 magnitude
earthquake.
 For a soil deposit over rock bed, magnification factor for PGA was observed as 5 times of that
0.03g
 Duration of Shaking also increased over loose deposit.

 Spectral amplifications were also larger in loose soil deposits as compared to rocky bed.

Effect of Topography / Geography

 1.25g of ML = 6.1 San Fernando Earthquake over Pacoima Dam

 Basin Effect
SOIL AND EARTHQUAKE
SEISMIC HAZARD
ANALYSIS
Quantitative Estimation of Possibility of Occurrence of Earthquake

Two Methods
 Probabilistic

 Deterministic

For either approach, knowledge of

 Geological Evidence of Faults

 Fault Activity

 Fault Rupture Length

 Presence of Active Faults

DETERMINISTIC
APPROACH
A Straightforward approach used for computation of Worst Case
Ground Motions

Are usually used for Dams, Nuclear Power Plants etc

Is based on Subjective Decisions

Its approach is only restricted when no sufficient data for

Probabilistic approach is available.

It consists of 5 Steps as follows

 DETERMINISTIC
APPROACH
Identification of all potential earthquake sources surrounding the site,
including the source geometry.
Evaluation of source to site distance for each earthquake source. The
distance is characterized by the shortest epicentral distance or
hypocentral distance if the source is a line source.
Identification of the maximum (likely) earthquake expressed in terms of
magnitude or any other parameter for ground shaking for each source.
Selection of the predictive relationship (or attenuation relationship) to
find the seismic hazard caused at the site due to an earthquake
occurring in any of the sources. For example, the Cornell et al.
relationship

Determination of the worst case ground shaking parameter at the site.

EXAMPLE 1
A site is surrounded by three independent sources of earthquakes,
out of which one is a line source, as shown in Figure 1.19. Locations
of the sources with respect to the site are also shown in the figure.
The maximum magnitudes of earthquakes that have occurred in the
past for the sources are recorded as: source 1, 7.5; source 2, 6.8;
source 3, 5.0. Using deterministic seismic hazard analysis compute
the peak ground acceleration to be experienced at the site.
EXAMPLE 1
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
A More refined alternate Approach. It has following steps to
follows
 Identify and Characterize earthquake Probabilistically
 Uniform Probabilistic Distribution

 Characterize Seismicity of Each Zone. Average rate of Exceedance

 Guttenberg and Richter Relationship
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
By Removing earthquake of lesser magnitude from mo following
expression is used.

For upper and Lower Limits

PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function) and PDF (Probability Density Function)
for a magnitude of earthquake for each Source Zone is determined from
recurrence relationship as follows.

A Predictive relationship is used to obtain a Seismic Parameter e.g PGA.

Possible uncertainty is included and value is expressed as mean value.

Finally the uncertainties in earthquake locations, size and ground motion

parameters are combined to obtain probability of exceedance for a particular
event.
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
The first term is prediction uncertainty

Second Term is Uncertainty in Earthquake Size

Third Term is Uncertainty in Location of Earthquake

Temporal Distribution of earthquake is Included in PSHA for earthquake occurrence

with respect to time. Poisson Process is used to model the temporal distribution of
earthquake for magnitude or PGA
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
Identification of Sources

Recurrence of Events

Attenuation Relationship

Hazard Curves
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
Recurrence
Relationship
In Most cases,
trend deviates
from Guttenberg –
Richter
Relationship
hence
Characteristic
earthquake
models are
considered to be
relevant
 Step 2: Recurrence
MAGNITUDE-RECURRENCE RELATIONSHIP

The most commonly used equation (model) to describe the occurrence of earthquakes is the
well-known Gutenberg-Richter relationship:

Log10 N(m) = a - b.m

where

N(m) is the average number per year of earthquakes having magnitudes greater than m.
a and b are constants; they are conventionally obtained from an appropriate statistical analysis of
historical earthquakes.
10a is the average number per year of earthquakes above magnitude zero.
b describes the relative rate of occurrence of different magnitudes. b is typically 1.0 + 0.3.

• The form of this relationship has been verified from observations of seismicity
throughout the world.

CE – 416: Earthquake Engineering – Semester: Spring 2020 49

 Step 2: Recurrence

N(m) Mean annual number of earthquakes

m N(m)
8.0 2
7.0 20
6.0 100
5.0 3,000
4.0 15,000

The Gutenberg-Richter
(exponential) model

m
Step 2: Recurrence
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
Attenuation Relationships
 Determining the parameter of interest from available
earthquake parameters
 A number of attenuation relationships exist
 Depends upon
 Regional tectonic Settings
 Active Faults
 Subduction Zones etc
PROBABILISTIC
APPROACH
 Step 3: Attenuation/GMPEs
ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIPS

Ground motion attenuation is often represented by the form:

Log10Y = c1 + c2.M + c3.Log10 R + c4.R

where
+ c5.F + c6.S + e

Y is the ground motion parameter of interest (i.e. PGA, PGV, SA, SD)
M is earthquake magnitude
R is source-to-site distance
F is the faulting mechanism of the earthquake
S is a description of the local site conditions
e is a random error term with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of s (a
Gaussian probability distribution); this term describes the variability in ground motion.

CE – 416: Earthquake Engineering – Semester: Spring 2020 54

Step 3: Attenuation/GMPEs
 Step 3: Attenuation/GMPEs
COEFFICIENTS OF AN ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP

CE – 416: Earthquake Engineering – Semester: Spring 2020 56

 SIMPLIFIED PSHA – AN EXAMPLE

To demonstrate on how probabilistic ground motion is estimated, a simplified calculation of probabilistic

ground motion is presented as follows:

Let’s consider a simple case where only one seismic source (A) is located near the site of interest (P).

RAP

A
P

Site
Seismic Source

The source-to-site distance = RAP = 30 km.

CE – 416: Earthquake Engineering – Semester: Spring 2020 57

SEISMIC RISK
ASSESSMENT
For an anticipated potential Seismic hazard, the process
of estimating the probability of economic and human
loss in a specific area.

It is based on
 Seismic Hazard assessment

 Seismic Vulnerability Assessment

SEISMIC RISK
ASSESSMENT
SEISMIC MICROZONATION
A larger area would have different seismic hazard
Here comes the concept of Microzonation
Dividing the larger area in to multiple small zones
 Soil Characteristics
 Earthquake Sources Properties
 Epicentral Distances
 Topography
 Population Density
 etc
SEISMIC MICROZONATION
This helps to develop more refined seismic hazard maps,
subsequently used for developing Seismic risk maps accordingly

It Consists of Following Steps

 Divide the area in to grids

 Perform DSHA for PGA at center of each grid

 Or, Proceed for PSHA (A little cumbersome)

 Determine Soil Amplification Factors

 Calculate respective PGA using Soil Amplification Factors

SEISMIC MICROZONATION
SEISMIC MICROZONATION