24

UNIT III

Measuring
Introduction
Earthquake
 25

Introduction
The unexpected destructions brought by earthquake cause
great catastrophe and devastation. Various recorded earthquake in
the past have demonstrated devastating impact in a sparsely
populated area much more when it struck a major population center.
Large number of people had lost their livelihood and properties, even
their lives.
Thus, there is a need for more objective scale that measure the
energy released by an earthquake. For this purpose, the term
magnitude is used. Another is the measure of the human reaction to
the ground movement and of the damage to the ground surface such
as crack, landslides, seiches, fires and even tsunamis, which is called
intensity.

Objectives:
Identify the use of Seismograph in detecting earthquake
Define magnitude and intensity
Compare and contrast primary, secondary, and surface waves
 MEASURING EARTHQUAKE 26

SEISMOGRAPH

A Seismograph is an instrument that detects, magnifies and records

vibrations of the earth, especially earthquakes. It is capable of detecting
extremely small ground motion that no one can feel and the main source of
accurate earthquake information.
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Seismic Waves

When a sudden break or shift occurs in the

earth's crust, the energy radiates out as seismic waves,
just as the energy from a disturbance in a body of water
radiates out in wave form.

In every earthquake, there are several different

types of seismic waves.

These are energies that travels through the earth

and is recorded on seismographs.

I LOVE YOU Earth!

MEASURING EARTHQUAKE
You’re so amazing…

Types of Waves

1. Body waves - waves that travel

through the earth’s inner layer.
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2. Surface waves - can only move along

the surface of the planet. It can cause
more properly damage that body
waves because surface waves
produce more ground movement
and travel more slowly. They take
longer to pass and responsible for
most of the damage associated with
earthquakes, because they cause the
most intense vibrations. Surface
waves stem from body waves that
reach the surface.
.

Help, I’m afraid of Earthquake!

MEASURING EARTHQUAKE

Types of Body Waves

 Primary Waves- is a longitudinal wave in which rock vibrates

parallel to the direction of wave propagation, that is, the
same wave, as the waves are moving. The fastest kind of
seismic wave.
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 Secondary Waves- It is slower than primary waves. The rock

vibrates perpendicular to the direction the waves
are moving.

MEASURING EARTHQUAKE
Wow! Now I know
the different types
of body waves!

Types of Surface Waves

 L Waves (Long Waves) – the fastest surface wave and move the
 30

ground from side-to-side.

 Rayleigh Waves – named after Rayleigh. It moves t0he ground up

and down, and side-to-side in the same
direction that the wave is moving.

MEASURING EARTHQUAKE
Hmmm…
I agree…

Determining the Location of an

Earthquake

The principal use of

seismograph networks is to
locate earthquakes. Although it
 31

is possible to infer a general location for an event from the records of a single
station, it is most accurate to use three or more stations.

Locating the source of any earthquake is important, of course, in assessing

the damage that the event may have caused, and in relating the earthquake to its
geologic setting.

 Focus- the place where energy is first released to caused an

Earthquake.

 Epicenter- the point on the Earth’s surface that lies vertically above
the focus of an earthquake.

There you are FOCUS! I can

MEASURING EARTHQUAKE
see you clearly….

Tokyo,
Bombay, Tokyo, Epicenter of Earthquake
Bombay, Japan
India Japan (near Mindanao,
India
Philippines)

Wellington,
New
Zealand
 32

The Philippines is one of the countries on the globe where earthquakes

frequently occur. Seismologists have identified those parts of the Earth’s crust
that are considered weak where diastrophism is noticeable. This is the “Pacific
Belt of Fire”, which includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Chile, and six
other countries.

The picture above shows the damage caused by earthquake at Dagupan

City, Philippines as part in the Pacific Belt of Fire. This was taken last July 16,
1990 By Army J. Bangsal. MEASURING EARTHQUAKE

Intensity vs. Magnitude

Two terms are used to convey information about an earthquake: Intensity

and Magnitude.

Intensity is the measure of the human reaction to the ground movement,

and of the damage to the ground surface such as cracks and landslides.

Magnitude is a measure of
the earthquakes size; it is a
reflection of the strengths of
the seismic waves emitted by
earthquakes.
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The picture above shows great damage that is measured by intensity and
magnitude.

Did you know that…?

The Richter scale was developed by Charles F.
Richter in 1935. It is a logarithmic measurement of the
amount of energy released by an earthquake.
Earthquakes with a magnitude of at least 4.5 are
strong enough to be recorded by sensitive
seismographs all over the world. In the United States
several thousand shocks of varying sizes occur
annually.

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Self- Assessment Questions

ste Use
 34

I. Matching Type. Match column A with Column B. Write the letter

of the correct answer to the space provided.

Column A released to cause

_____ 1. Seismograph earthquake
f. surface wave
_____ 2. Epicenter
g. point of the earth’s surface
_____ 3. Focus that lies vertically above
_____ 4. Richter scale the focus of an earthquake
h. resulting record of data
_____ 5. Rossi-Forell
i. waves of energy caused by
_____ 6. Seismometer sudden break of rocks
_____ 7. Primary waves within the earth
j. sensitive part of the
_____ 8. Magnitude
seismograph
______ 9. Surface waves k. L and Rayleigh waves
_____ 1 0. Seismic waves l. longitudinal wave in which
rocks vibrates parallel to
the direction of wave
propagation
m. measure of earthquake size

Column B
a. magnitude
b. it detect magnitudes and
vibrations of earthquake
c. Intensity
d. measure of human reaction
e. place where energy is first
Answer to the Self – Assessment
Questions

1. b

2. g

3. e

4. c

5. a

6. j

7. l

8. m

9. k

10. i
Books
Bibliography
Braganza, M.S. “Earth Science”. Rex Bookstore, Inc.pp.56-64

Long, L.T & Zappler, G. “Popular Science”. Grolier International,

Inc.1995.p294

Internet sources
Brain, M. “How stuff works”, January 1998, January 26, 2008

http://science.howstuffworks.com/earthquake4.htm
Department of Science and Technology Service Institute. August 10, 2008

http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/

Dr. R. Chidambaram, TIFAC Organization, March 4, 2008    

http://www.rurkiu.ernet.in/centers/TIFAC/database/earth%20quakes/eq.
html