Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction component of seismic wave motion or shaking

since it is easier to shake than to compress

Section 4.1
 rocks.

Ground Shaking
➢ Ground shaking per se is relatively harmless if
How Earthquake Vibrations 
 one is in an open field. However, it is the failure
Are Generated? of a building due to inferior design, poor
construction, or weak foundation that cause
➢ The elastic rebound theory suggests that people harm or death.

elastic strain energy builds up in the deforming

rocks on either side of the fault until it Some of the World’s Most Destructive
overcomes the resistance posed by any Earthquakes

irregularity on the fault plane.

When the slippage does occur, energy is released. The

elastic energy released is transported by seismic
waves that travel throughout the earth

➢ We feel these seismic waves (Figure 4.12) as

vibrations.

Earthquake Source Characteristics That Control

the Intensity of Vibration
• Size of fault rupture

• Magnitude of the earthquake

Three Main Types of Seismic Waves

• Distance from the earthquake epicenter

• (1) P (Primary) waves and

Vibration Hazard Zoning

• (2) S (Secondary) waves are called body waves
as these travel in the rocks below the surface ➢ The intensity of shaking depends not only on
of the earth.
earthquake source characteristics but also on
the characteristics of the materials the ground
• (3) Surface waves travel outward from the is made of.

epicenter. They also travel slower than the

other two seismic wave types.
➢ It is also important to note that various types of
foundations respond differently to seismic
How Is Ground Shaking Measured? waves and therefore a more detailed evaluation
of the susceptibility of the ground to shaking is
ANSWER: The strength of ground shaking (or in order

that of the seismic waves) is measured in terms

Of: (1) velocity, (2) acceleration. (3) frequency
content of the shaking, and (4) how long the
shaking continues or the “duration”.
of velocity in estimating ground-shaking
➢ Shear wave velocity of different rocks is a good
measure of ground-shaking potential. The use
potential is based on the principle that seismic
waves have different speeds when traveling
through different materials.

GROUND RUPTURE
The Concept of Ground Rupture
Earthquakes originate at depth by the sudden
motion of blocks of the lithosphere. This
motion occurs along lithospheric breaks called
faults. During strong earthquakes, faulting may
reach the earth‘s surface as ground ruptures

Important Terms

Effects of Ground Shaking

➢ Ground shaking is potentially destructive to
buildings, particularly the horizontal

narrow, distinct zone or not is also determined
How Ground Ruptures Form
The lithosphere breaks when its strength is
overcome by the large amount of stress
applied. This breaking happens in much the
same way a piece of rock does when struck
hard enough with a hammer. Rock failure that
involves the slipping of lithosphere blocks past
each other is called faulting.
Measures to Minimize the Effects
➢ The lithosphere breaks when its strength is
overcome by the large amount of stress
applied. This breaking happens in much the
same way a piece of rock does when struck
hard enough with a hammer. Rock failure that
involves the slipping of
planning any construction.
➢ lithosphere blocks past each other is called
faulting.
agencies, business entities, NGOs, and
shear or S-waves, causes loss of equilibrium or
➢ An earthquake is generated when a fault
moves, as its frictional resistance could not
match the large amount of accumulated stress
related to plate motion. When an earthquake is
strong enough, faulting initiated at depths may
breach the earth‘s surface to form a ground
rupture.
separate as they are pushed apart. The
On Active Faults
➢ Active faults are those that have been found to
have moved under the current stress field and
have caused earthquakes during historical
times and in the recent geologic past.
Different Types of Ground Failure 

➢ The most active faults are quite dangerous as
large earthquakes originate very often (at short
intervals) along them.
type of ground failure due to liquefaction, this
➢ Active faults show evidence that they have
moved in the recent geologic past.
➢ Active faults are more likely to give way and
generate earthquakes in the near future.
Factors Affecting the Characteristics of
Ground Ruptures
➢ The depth and nature of sedimentary
materials overlying the bedrock fault may
determine the pattern of surface fault
traces.
➢ Whether a ground rupture occurs along a
by the degree of activity of the active fault.
➢ The ground rupture length depends on the
magnitude of the earthquake.
➢ The width of the deformation along the length
of the ground rupture also largely depends on
the type of faulting.


of Ground Ruptures
➢ Sound engineering and construction practice
may be adopted to prevent total destruction.
➢ The best measure, however, is avoidance of
active fault traces and deformation zones when
➢ Local government units, other government
homeowners may access available detailed
maps of local active faults from PHIVOLCS.
➢ Some critical parameters such as steepness of
the fault plane and amount of fault
displacement during an earthquake are used in
estimating setback and in determining hazard
zones.
LIQUEFACTION
How Does Liquefaction Occur?
Ground shaking during an earthquake, which is
caused by the passing of seismic waves mainly
disturbance of the granular structure of the
ground. Vibration rearranges sand particles
from a loose arrangement of grains into more
compact state. This results in increased pore
pressure between the grains. Once pressure
exceeds the weight of overlying material, water
is released and causes the sediment grains to
sediments become more mobile and attain a
jelly-like consistency. From a solid state, the
sediments are transformed into a liquefied
state due to increase in pore-water pressure.
Three Factors Required for Liquefaction to
Occur
1. Loose, granular sediment — areas with
deposits that are young enough (late Holocene)
to be loose (e.g., old river courses near sea
level, coastlines, marshes, and artificial fills)
2. Saturation of sand and silt sediment by ground
water
3. An earthquake strong enough to liquefy
susceptible sediments
Due to Liquefaction
✓ Flow Failure. Considered the most dangerous
occurs on liquefiable slope material with
 steepness greater than 3 degrees. Blocks of
overlying material slide down so fast (as much
as 10 kms/hr) that these reach distances tens
of kilometers from the source
and adjustable supports to correct against
✓ Lateral Spreads. Blocks or the broken pieces
of the at or very gentle ground (less than 3
degrees) above a liquefied zone move laterally.
✓ Ground Oscillation. Due to the at or nearly at
slope, the ground is unable to spread and
instead oscillates like a wave (back and forth
and up and down). Water and wet sand are
ejected through the fissures that form and
there is build up of conical-shaped mounds of
sand at the surface (sand blows).
day.
✓ Loss of Bearing Strength.
• Groundwater (pore water) pressure during
✓ Loss of strength of sediments
✓ resulting in tilting of houses and floating of
buoyant structures (e.g., fuel tank) that are
anchored on the liquefied zone.
• Volcanic eruptions. Bulging of slopes and the
✓ Settlement. Vertical readjustment or
settlement within the liquefied zone as result of
dissipation of pore-water pressure or the
ejection of materials during the formation of
sand boils (fountains of water and sediment
coming from the pressurized liquefied zone).
• Snowmelt is also known to have the same
Effects of Liquefaction on Buildings and
Other Structures
Areas and Deposits Prone 

to Liquefaction
• Seismically-induced liquefaction ordinarily
occurs in areas underlain by layers of loose,
well sorted, water-saturated sand and silty
sand within 30 meters of sediments of
considerable thickness where the water table is
close to the surface.
• Soil, sediment, and certain types of volcanic
deposits with well-sorted (almost same-sized)
particles having the size of ne sand are prone
to liquefaction.
• Lateral spreads are triggered by earthquakes
• Based on analyses of historical data on
liquefaction, the more recent a sediment has
been deposited, the greater is its liquefaction
potential.
• Deposits which had been subjected to
liquefaction can liquefy again. Thus,
liquefaction hazard zones should also include
areas known to have experienced liquefaction
during historic earthquakes.
Mitigating Liquefaction Hazard
• For national and local governments to come up
with hazard zone maps to identify areas
potentially subject to liquefaction
• Constructing a liquefaction-resistant structure
to ensure that a building has ductility (the
ability to accommodate large deformations)
differential settlements of the soil.
• Improving sites prior to liquefaction events
Earthquake-induced Landslides
Factors That Cause Landslides
• Removal of support at the base of a slope
which may be due to erosion at the toe of a
slope by rivers or ocean waves. That is why
landslides may occur even on a hot summer
sudden changes in the water level of bodies of
water adjacent to a slope also acts to
destabilize it.
force of volcanic material ejection or emission
may also contribute to slope instability.
• Intense rainfall. Landslides are triggered due
to the weakening of the slope material by water
saturation.
effect as in saturating slope material.
Factors That Cause Landslides
• Human interventions. Man contributes to the
instability of slopes through construction
activities (roads, buildings, and other facilities),
quarrying/mining, and unabated logging and
kaingin which lead to the loss of deeply rooting
trees and soil cohesiveness.
• Earthquakes. Slopes are prone to widespread
failure during earthquakes because of the
sudden shaking of hilly and mountainous
areas. What a prolonged period of rainfall
cannot do to slopes is accomplished by a
strong earthquake that may last only less than
a minute.
Types of Landslide Based on Movement
• Topples occur suddenly when a massive part
of very steep slopes break loose and rotate
forward.
• Rock falls involve chunks of detached rock
that fall freely for some distance or bounce and
roll down the steep slope.
Slides involve large blocks of bedrock that
break free and slide down along a planar or
curved surface
and affect gentle slopes with less than 10
degrees inclination. Slope material loses
cohesion through liquefaction caused by the
shaking during earthquakes.
• Flows involve downslope motion of fine
grained clay, silt, and fine sand made mobile
by water saturation. These flows include mud
flows and earth flows and are common during
the rainy season.
• Complex slides are combinations of two or
more types of movement.

 Properties of Rocks That Contribute to Total isolation due to destruction of roads by future
Resistance to Shearing Forces landslides.

1. Intact rock strength

• Communities must also stabilize part of the
landscape with incipient landslide marks before
2. Mass weathering grade
it develops into a full-blown landslide.

3. Spacing of discontinuities
Tsunamis
4. Joint orientations
Tsunami Generation

5. Width of joints
Tsunamis can be generated provided that:

6. Fracture continuity
1. faulting occurs at the sea bottom (or extends;
7. Outflows of groundwater
in to the sea, in the case of active faults
identified on land),

Areas Prone to Earthquake-induced

2. the earthquake originates at shallow depths;
Landslides

and

• Earthquake-induced landslides commonly take

3. the earthquake is sufficiently strong.

place on longer and steeper slopes, and at a

higher part of the slope.
Tsunami Propagation
The speed of propagation of a tsunami is
• The direction that a slope faces (aspect) also expressed as

plays a role in where landslides occur during an v = (gb)1/2

earthquake.

where b is the depth of the ocean,

• The geological factors that determine which

part of the landscape are prone to landslides and g (= 9.8 m/s2) is the force of gravity

are those that contribute to low strength of

rock or soil materials.
Tsunami Run-up and Inundation

• Earthquake induced-landslides occur on ➢ As a tsunami wave gets closer to the shore, it

surfaces with signs of weakened slopes due to
the presence of weak, highly-sheared rocks of
old fault zones and old landslide scars.
causes wave shoaling or the abrupt increase in
slows down because of decreasing depth. The
decrease in depth to sea bottom, however,
wave height.

Effects of Earthquake-Induced Landslides

• A substantial part of the total loss of lives,

injuries, and damage to structures due to
earthquakes may be attributed to burial and
debris impact caused by earthquake-induced
landslides.

• Ground failure is frequently the cause of major

disruptions, particularly to lifelines, which can

lead to prolonged loss of function and income,

even for undamaged areas.
➢ With wave shoaling at shallower depths, the
wave height increase is inversely proportional
• Slides can cause disastrous flooding, to water depth.

particularly when landslide dams across

streams are breached and flooding may trigger ➢ This wave height-depth relationship is
more slides.
governed by the following:

• Sedimentation due to landslides also changes

river morphology.

• Other environmental effects caused by

landslides include the alteration of agriculture
and changes to natural ecosystems.

• One of the major impacts to both the natural

and built environment is the complete

relocation of some human populations and

infrastructure to new areas, resulting in the Causes of Tsunami
abandonment of towns and other areas that
were damaged by the earthquake and • Most tsunamis are generated during an
landslides.
earthquake occurring along trenches, and
along offshore active faults or the offshore
• The tsunami wave that has ever been known is extensions of these.

due to an earthquake-induced landslide.

• Landslide. It includes landslides occurring

Measures to Mitigate under the ocean and coastal landslides
displacing ocean water. Tsunamis can be

 secondary effects of earthquakes through
Effects of Landslides earthquake-triggered landslides occurring
under the ocean or in coastal areas.

• Recognizing and reporting any sign of slope

instability to local authorities and neighbors in • Volcanic Eruption or Explosion. Any
your community is an important step.
submarine or coastal volcanic activity and
• At the community level, provisions should be products that can trigger tsunami by displacing
made for food, water, blankets, medicines, and large volumes of water including explosions,
other supplies needed for possible prolonged caldera collapse, large volcanic debris
avalanche, and massive pyroclastic flows.

• Meteorite Impact. Meteorites impacting the

ocean can trigger tsunamis.

Monitoring and Warning

➢ The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC)
monitors the ocean surface using satellites,
radar, and buoys in the water that measure
current speed and waves.

➢ Once a tsunami is generated, the PTWC alerts

local authorities of areas that are likely to be
hit.

➢ PHIVOLCS has been setting-up tsunami

warning systems that are equipped with sirens
in selected areas prone to tsunami.

Some Telling Effects of Tsunami

• Massive loss of lives due to drowning, building
collapse, impact of various kinds of debris, and
sometimes by electrocution

• Large tsunami waves can also permanently

alter the landscape, if not totally wipe out small
islands and other coastal landforms.

• Flooding can damage water supplies and soil

(both becoming salinized by sea water
affecting crop yields).

• Affect the environment by spreading

hazardous materials and toxic substances
that lead to soil and water contamination

• Destroy plant, animal life, and other natural

resources

• Hazardous materials and toxic substances

may leak as a result of damage to
containment facilities.

Some Notable Tsunami 


Occurrences in History