Earthquake Resistant Structures

Introduction
What are Earthquakes?
Causes and Consequences
 Structure of the Earth
• Starting at the center, Earth is composed of four distinct layers. They are, from
deepest to shallowest, the inner core, the outer core, the mantle and the crust.
 Structure of the Earth
The inner core
• This solid metal ball has a radius of 1,220 kilometers, or about three-quarters that
of the moon. It’s located some 6,400 to 5,180 kilometers beneath Earth’s surface.
Extremely dense, it’s made mostly of iron and nickel.
The outer core
• This part of the core is also made from iron and nickel, just in liquid form. It sits
some 5,180 to 2,880 kilometers (3,220 to 1,790 miles) below the surface. Heated
largely by the radioactive decay of the elements uranium and thorium, this liquid
churns in huge, turbulent currents. That motion generates electrical currents.
They, in turn, generate Earth’s magnetic field.
 Structure of the Earth
The mantle
• At close to 3,000 kilometers thick, this is Earth’s thickest layer. It starts a mere 30
kilometers beneath the surface. Made mostly of iron, magnesium and silicon, it is
dense, hot and semi-solid. Like the layer below it, this one also circulates, but far
more slowly. Near its upper edges, somewhere between about 100 and 200
kilometers underground, the mantle’s temperature reaches the melting point of
rock. it forms a layer of partially melted rock known as the asthenosphere.
Geologists believe this weak, hot, slippery part of the mantle is what Earth’s
tectonic plates ride upon and slide across.
• The mantle’s outermost zone is relatively cool and rigid. It behaves more like the
crust above it. Together, this uppermost part of the mantle layer and the crust are
known as the lithosphere.
 Structure of the Earth
The crust
• Earth’s crust is extremely thin,
cold and brittle compared to what
lies below it. The crust is made of
relatively light elements, especially
silica, aluminum and oxygen. It’s also
highly variable in its thickness. Under
the oceans (and Hawaiian Islands), it
may be as little as 5 kilometers thick.
Beneath the continents, the crust
may be 30 to 70 kilometers thick.
• Along with the upper zone of the
mantle, the crust is broken into large
pieces known as tectonic plates. The thickest part of Earth’s crust is about 70 kilometers
These move slowly — at just 3 to 5 (43 miles) thick and lies under the Himalayan Mountains,
centimeters (1.2 to 2 inches) per year. seen here.
In time, these plates will converge,
pull apart or slide past each other. • The crust makes up less than 1 percent of
Those actions cause most
earthquakes and volcanoes. Earth by mass.
 Plate Tectonics
• Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created
as a result of Earth’s subterranean movements.
• In plate tectonics, Earth’s outermost layer, or lithosphere—made up of the crust
and upper mantle—is broken into large rocky plates. These plates lie on top of a
partially molten layer of rock called the asthenosphere. Due to the convection of
the asthenosphere and lithosphere, the plates move relative to each other at
different rates, from two to 15 centimeters (one to six inches) per year.
This interaction of tectonic plates is responsible for many different geological
formations such as the Himalaya mountain range in Asia, the East African Rift, and
the San Andreas Fault in California, United States.
• Alfred Wegener published two articles about a concept called continental drift in
1912. He suggested that 200 million years ago, a supercontinent he called Pangaea
began to break into pieces, its parts moving away from one another. The
continents we see today are fragments of that supercontinent. To support his
theory, Wegener pointed to matching rock formations and similar fossils in Brazil
and West Africa. In addition, South America and Africa looked like they could fit
together like puzzle pieces.
Pangaea
 Pangaea
• About 300 million years ago, Earth didn't have seven continents, but instead one
massive supercontinent called Pangaea, which was surrounded by a single ocean
called Panthalassa.
 Tectonic Plates and Plate Boundaries
• There are 7-8 major
plates and many
minor plates.
Varying between 0
to 100mm per year,
the movement of a
plate is driven by
convection in the
underlying hot and
viscous mantle.
• Earthquakes,
volcanic activity,
mountain-building,
and oceanic trench
formation occur
along plate
boundaries in zones
that may be
anything from a few
kilometres to a few
hundred kilometres
wide.
 Plate boundaries
• There are three main types of plate boundaries:

1. Convergent boundaries: where two plates are colliding.

• Subduction zones occur when one or both of the tectonic plates are composed of
oceanic crust. The denser plate is subducted underneath the less dense plate. The
plate being forced under is eventually melted and destroyed.
• i. Where oceanic crust meets ocean crust
Island arcs and oceanic trenches occur when both of the plates are made of
oceanic crust. Zones of active seafloor spreading can also occur behind the island
arc, known as back-arc basins. These are often associated with submarine
volcanoes.
• ii. Where oceanic crust meets continental crust
The denser oceanic plate is subducted, often forming a mountain range on the
continent. The Andes is an example of this type of collision.
• iii. Where continental crust meets continental crust
Both continental crusts are too light to subduct so a continent-continent collision
occurs, creating especially large mountain ranges. The most spectacular example
of this is the Himalayas.
 Plate boundaries
2. Divergent boundaries – where two plates are moving apart.
• The space created can also fill with new crustal material sourced from molten
magma that forms below. Divergent boundaries can form within continents but
will eventually open up and become ocean basins.
• i. On land
Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts, which produce rift
valleys.
• ii. Under the sea
The most active divergent plate boundaries are between oceanic plates and are
often called mid-oceanic ridges.

3. Transform boundaries – where plates slide passed each other.

• The relative motion of the plates is horizontal. They can occur underwater or on
land, and crust is neither destroyed nor created.
• Because of friction, the plates cannot simply glide past each other. Rather, stress
builds up in both plates and when it exceeds the threshold of the rocks, the energy
is released – causing earthquakes.
Plate boundaries
 What is an Earthquake?
• An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth’s crust, resulting
in waves of shaking that radiate outwards from the earthquake source. When
stresses in the crust exceed the strength of the rock, it breaks along lines of
weakness, either a pre-existing or new fault plane.
• The point where an earthquake starts is termed the focus or hypocentre and may
be many kilometres deep within the earth.
• The point at the surface directly above the focus is called the earthquake
epicentre.
 Types of Earthquake
• Tectonic Earthquakes: Earthquakes caused by plate tectonics are called tectonic
quakes. They account for most earthquakes worldwide and usually occur at the
boundaries of tectonic plates.
• Induced Earthquakes: Induced quakes are caused by human activity, like tunnel
construction, filling reservoirs and implementing geothermal or fracking projects.
• Volcanic Earthquakes: Volcanic quakes are associated with active volcanism. They
are generally not as powerful as tectonic quakes and often occur relatively near
the surface. Consequently, they are usually only felt in the vicinity of the
hypocentre.
• Collapse Earthquakes: Collapse quakes can be triggered by such phenomena as
cave-ins, mostly in karst areas or close to mining facilities, as a result of
subsidence.
Seismic Zones in India
Seismic Zones in India
Regions that fall under the Earthquake
(seismic) Zones in India
Zone-V covers entire northeastern India,
some parts of Jammu and Kashmir, some
parts of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, some
parts of North Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar
Islands.
Zone-IV covers remaining parts of Jammu &
Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh,
Union Territory of Delhi, Sikkim, northern
parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West
Bengal, parts of Gujarat and small portions of
Maharashtra near the west coast and
Rajasthan.
Zone-III comprises of Kerala, Goa,
Lakshadweep islands, remaining parts of
Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, parts
of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra,
Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka.
Zone-II covers remaining parts of the country.
 Bibliography
• https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-earth-layer-layer
• https://courses.lumenlearning.com/geophysical/chapter/the-composition-and-
structure-of-earth/
• https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-tectonics.html
• https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Earthquakes/Earthquakes-
at-a-Plate-Boundary/Tectonic-Plates-and-Plate-Boundaries
• https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/earth-hazards/earthquakes/
• http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/en/knowledge/things-to-know/causes-of-
earthquakes/general/