Earthquakes and Faults

The Philippines, being in the Ring of Fire, is prone to

earthquakes. Filipinos from different eras have witnessed
earthquakes that have challenged their inner strength. One
of the earliest recorded earthquakes happened in Manila
on 25 June 1599. This calamity left many buildings
damaged and the roof of Sto. Domingo Church ruined.

Earthquake is the sudden vibration, violent movement of

Earth’s surface caused by a rapid release of stored energy.
The other names for earthquake are tremor and
tremblor. Focus is the source from which the energy is
released radiating to all directions. Epicenter is the point
directly above the focus, as shown in the given
illustration.
 Faults are large fractures in Earth’s crust, formed from
the violent movement of Earth’s surface. Faults can be
classified as active or inactive. Along the active faults,
earthquakes are most likely to take place in the future. If
in the last 10 000 years, an earthquake has occurred along
the faults, these faults are said to be active. On the other
hand, inactive faults are the opposite; that is, no seismic
activity has been observed for about 5 600 years along
inactive faults.

Fault Types
Three main types of faults

Faults are subdivided according to the movement of the two blocks. There are three or four
primary fault types:

Normal fault

A dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved downward relative to the block
below. This type of faulting occurs in response to extension. “Occurs when the “hanging wall”
moves down relative to the “foot wall””
Reverse fault

A dip-slip fault in which the upper block, above the fault plane, moves up and over the lower
block. This type of faulting is common in areas of compression, when the dip angle is shallow, a
reverse fault is often described as a thrust fault. “Occurs where the “hanging wall” moves up or
is thrust over the “foot wall””

Strike-slip fault

A fault on which the two blocks slide past one another. The San Andreas Fault is an example of a
right lateral fault.
Types of Strike-slip fault movement

A left-lateral strike-slip fault

If you were to stand on the fault and look along its length, this is a type of strike-slip fault where
the left block moves toward you and the right block moves away

A right-lateral strike-slip fault

If you were to stand on the fault and look along its length, this is a type of strike-slip fault where
the right block moves toward you and the left block moves away.
Most tsunami are caused by large earthquakes at the
seafloor, when large slabs of rock are forced to move past
each other suddenly causing the overlying water to move.
The resulting wave moves outwards and away from this
event. Underwater landslides can cause tsunami, and so
can land which slumps into the ocean
Because earthquakes happen in the Philippines every now and
then, agencies such as PHIVOLCS are very helpful.
Seismology is the science dealing with earthquake waves.
Studying earthquake waves can provide information about
Earth’s interior. A scientist who studies earthquakes is called a
seismologist.
Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through different
layers of Earth. These waves may be caused by an earthquake.
Seismologists make use of seismographs to record earthquake
waves. The records generated are called seismograms. (Refer to
your outputs in Launch Pad.) Through seismograms, scientists
learn that seismic waves possess elastic energy, radiating
outward from the focus to all directions.
There are two types of seismic waves—surface waves and
body waves. Surface waves are those that travel through the
outer layer of Earth. On the other hand, body waves are those
that travel through the interior of Earth.
Body waves can be classified as a primary wave (P wave) or a
secondary wave (S wave). The P waves are also called push-
pull waves because they compress and expand rocks in the
direction of the wave. Visualize this simulation: you hold your
classmate’s shoulders and shake him or her. In a way, you have
just given your classmate a P wave.
S waves shake rocks perpendicular to their direction. To help
you visualize S waves, think of a rope tied on one end. When
you shake the other end, you are somehow generating S waves.
Magnitude measures the amount of energy
released at the source of an earthquake.
Seismographs are used to determine the
magnitude of an earthquake. On the other
hand, intensity measures how strong the
shaking generated by the earthquake is at a
particular location.
In 1902, Giuseppe Mercalli developed an
intensity scale to describe the size of an
earthquake. Today, the modified Mercalli
intensity scale is used in the USA and
Canada. In the Philippines, PHIVOLCS uses
the PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale
(PEIS) and adapts the Rossi–Forel intensity
scale (RFIS). The values used in the
intensity scale are written in Roman
numerals
 Understanding Typhoons
According to the Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA), approximately 19
typhoons (locally termed bagyo) enter the country,
but only six to nine of them make landfall. The other
typhoons just hit Philippine waters. When a typhoon
is accompanied by very strong winds and very heavy
rains, some places get flooded, affecting people and
animals in the affected community. Classes and
work may be cancelled. Business establishments
might be closed. Schools may be designated as
evacuation centers in most places.
Tropical cyclone is the term used to refer to any
system of clouds and thunderstorms that rotates and
originates over tropical waters (such as the central
portions of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and most
parts of the Indian ocean). In the Atlantic and the
Northeast Pacific oceans, the term used for tropical
cyclone is hurricane; in the South Pacific and the
Indian oceans, the term used is just cyclone. In the
western Pacific, people call tropical cyclones
typhoons.
 Tropical Cyclone Structure

The Eye
The hurricane's center is a relatively calm, generally clear area of sinking air and
light winds that usually do not exceed 15 mph (24 km/h) and is typically 20-40
miles (32-64 km) across. An eye will usually develop when the maximum
sustained wind speeds go above 74 mph (119 km/h) and is the calmest part of the
storm

The Eyewall
Where the strong wind gets as close as it can is the eyewall. The eyewall consists
of a ring of tall thunderstorms that produce heavy rains and usually the strongest
winds. Changes in the structure of the eye and eyewall can cause changes in the
wind speed, which is an indicator of the storm's intensity. The eye can grow or
shrink in size, and double (concentric) eyewalls can form.

Rainbands
Curved bands of clouds and thunderstorms that trail away from the eye wall in a
spiral fashion. These bands are capable of producing heavy bursts of rain and wind,
as well as tornadoes. There are sometimes gaps in between spiral rain bands where
no rain or wind is found.
 Other Members of the Solar System
Comets are often referred to as "dirty snowballs." They are left over from the formation of
stars and planets billions of years ago. Before zipping around the Sun with their characteristic big
tails, comets that we see in our solar system start out as big chunks of rock and ice just floating
around in something called the Oort cloud. When the gravity from a large passing body, like a
star, becomes strong enough, some large chunks of ice get pulled away from the cloud and head
toward the Sun. As that ball of ice gets close enough to the Sun, its heat begins to melt some of
the ice that makes up the comet. The melted ice becomes a gaseous tail that extends away from
the source of the heat (in this case, the Sun). The tail is pushed out by the Sun's solar wind.

Parts of a Comet

Nucleus
The nucleus of a comet is also known as the core. It contains mostly ice and dust
covered with a dark organic material. Typically, the nucleus contains frozen water,
but other frozen substances may exist such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, carbon
monoxide and methane. Most comet nuclei are less than 16 km in diameter. As a
comet nears the sun, the nucleus heats up and gases escape from it.

Coma
The spherical envelope of gas that surrounds a comet's nucleus is called a coma.
When combined with the nucleus, it forms the comet's head. The coma is roughly a
million kilometers across, and is comprised of dust and gases that have sublimed
from the comet's nucleus. Sublimation occurs when a material changes from a
frozen state to a gas state, and skips the intermediate liquid phase.

Hydrogen Cloud
According to Solarviews.com, "As the comet absorbs ultraviolet light, chemical
processes release hydrogen, which escapes the comet's gravity, and forms a
hydrogen envelope. This envelope cannot be seen from Earth because its light is
absorbed by our atmosphere, but it has been detected by spacecraft." The hydrogen
cloud is a huge envelope, millions of kilometers in diameter.
Dust Tail
A dust tail is formed by radiation from the sun that forces dust particles away from
the coma. Because dust tails are shaped by the solar wind, they point away from
the sun. The tail curves slightly as a result of the comet's motion. This acceleration
is relatively slow. As the distance from the sun increases, the dust tail fades and
diminishes. The dust tail measures up to 10 million kilometers in length.

Ion Tail
Charged solar particles convert some cometary gases into ions, forming an ion tail.
The ion tail is less massive than the dust tail, and accelerates much faster so that
the tail is nearly a straight line extending away from the comet, in a direction
opposite from the sun. The ion tail can measure over 100 million kilometers long.
 Halley's Comet

Like most comets, it is made of ice, dust, and gas. When Halley's Comet orbits close to the Sun,
it has a bright and glowing appearance that can be seen from Earth. It is said that it was first
noticed back in 240 BC. In 1705, an astronomer named Edmond Halley discovered that the
comet appears every 75 to 76 years.

The orbital period of a comet is the time it takes for it to go around

another body. This can range from some years to millions of years.
Comets that come from the Kuiper Belt are called short-period comets
(less than 200 years). The Kuiper Belt is a comet-rich area of our solar
system that begins near the orbit of Neptune and continues beyond
Pluto. Those that originate from the Oort cloud are called long-period
comets (more than 200 years). The Oort cloud is a theoretical spherical
cloud made up of predominantly icy planetesimals that are believed to
surround the sun at a distance of up to around 100 000 astronomical
units (AU). Note that 1 AU is equal to 149.6 million km. The orbit of the
comet around the sun is highly elliptical. As the comet approaches the
sun, its velocity increases rapidly; its velocity decreases as it moves
away from the sun. Comets that crash to the sun are called sungrazers.
They crash because they come very close to the sun. When a comet is
very close to the sun, it tends to evaporate or disintegrate (especially the
small ones)
Meteors
A meteor is a space rock—or meteoroid—that enters Earth's atmosphere. As the space
rock falls toward Earth, the resistance—or drag—of the air on the rock makes it
extremely hot. What we see is a "shooting star." That bright streak is not actually the
rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere.

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. Although asteroids orbit the sun
like planets, they are much smaller than planets.