ALVAREZ, JEFERSON J.

BSCE 5C
EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING
Assignment no. 01

FOCUS
The focus of an earthquake is the point where the rocks start to fracture. It is the origin of
the earthquake. The epicenter is the point on land directly above the focus. The focus is also
called the hypocenter of an earthquake. The vibrating waves travel away from the focus of the
earthquake in all directions. The waves can be so powerful they will reach all parts of the Earth
and cause it to vibrate like a turning fork.

PSN (Philippine Seismic Network)

The seismic monitoring network in the Philippines was established due to the recognition
that the Philippines is one of the seismically active regions in the world and grew to its present
configuration in response to the public's need for detailed information about its attendant hazards
as large earthquakes continue to demonstrate its capacity for destruction.

CASUALTIES
In civilian usage, a casualty is a person who is killed, wounded or incapacitated by some
event; the term is usually used to describe multiple deaths and injuries due to violent incidents or
disasters. It is sometimes misunderstood to mean "fatalities", but non-fatal injuries are also
casualties.

SEISMIC VIBRATION
Are a movement of particles around the state of equilibrium in a solid environment.

LATERAL FORCE
The force that acts in the direction parallel to ground and perpendicular to the direction of
gravitational pull of earth is known as lateral forces. It is different from longitudinal force in
such a way that in case of lateral force, the direction of the force is parallel to the plane of
reference of structure and perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the structure.

CONTINENTAL SHELF
The area of seabed around a large landmass where the sea is relatively shallow compared
with the open ocean. The continental shelf is geologically part of the continental crust.

CORE
Earth’s core is the very hot, very dense center of our planet. The ball-shaped core lies
beneath the cool, brittle crust and the mostly solid mantle. The core is found about 2,900
kilometers (1,802 miles) below Earth’s surface and has a radius of about 3,485 kilometers (2,165
miles).
AMPLITUDE
Amplitude, in physics, the maximum displacement or distance moved by a point on a
vibrating body or wave measured from its equilibrium position. It is equal to one-half the length
of the vibration path. The amplitude of a pendulum is thus one-half the distance that the bob
traverses in moving from one side to the other. Waves are generated by vibrating sources, their
amplitude being proportional to the amplitude of the source.

UPHEAVAL
An upward displacement of part of the earth’s crust

RUPTURE
An earthquake rupture is the extent of slip that occurs during an earthquake in the Earth's
crust. Earthquakes occur for many reasons that include landslides, movement of magma in a
volcano, the formation of a new fault, or, most commonly of all, a slip on an existing fault.

FREQUENCY
The frequency is the number of times something happens in a certain period, such as the
ground shaking up and down or back and forth during an earthquake.

DIVERGENT PLATE
Divergent plate boundaries are locations where plates are moving away from one another.
This occurs above rising convection currents. The rising current pushes up on the bottom of the
lithosphere, lifting it and flowing laterally beneath it. This lateral flow causes the plate material
above to be dragged along in the direction of flow. At the crest of the uplift, the overlying plate
is stretched thin, breaks and pulls apart.

BODY WAVE
A body wave is a seismic wave that moves through the interior of the earth, as opposed to
surface waves that travel near the earth's surface. P and S waves are body waves. Each type of
wave shakes the ground in different ways.

OCEANIC TRENCHES
Oceanic trenches are topographic depressions of the sea floor, relatively narrow in width,
but very long. These oceanographic features are the deepest parts of the ocean floor. Oceanic
trenches are a distinctive morphological feature of convergent plate boundaries, along which
lithospheric plates move towards each other at rates that vary from a few millimeters to over ten
centimeters per year.

CONTINGENCY
A future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty.