Seismology

and Earthquakes
Earthquake Engineering
Deals with the effects of earthquakes on people
and their environment and with method of
reducing those effects.
Nature of Earthquakes
An earthquake is an oscillatory, sometimes
violent movement of the ground’s surface that
follows a release of energy in the earth’s
crust.
Global Seismicity
Plate Tectonics
 Divergent Boundary
Plate boundary Type of plate movement Categories Types of earthquakes Examples

Earthquakes on
spreading ridges are
limited to the ridge
Seafloor crest, where new crust Mid-Atlantic
spreading ridge is being formed. These ridge
Relative movements of the
Divergent earthquakes tend to be
two plates is away from each
boundary relatively small and
other
occur at shallow
depths.
Earthquakes
Continental rift generated along East African
valley normal faults in the rift rift
valley.
Convergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
 Transform Boundary

Plate boundary Type of plate movement Categories Types of earthquakes Examples

Plates slide past each other,
Earthquakes oftern San
Transform without the construction or Strike-slip fault
generated on strike- Andreas
boundary destruction of the earth's zones
slip faults fault
crust
Faults
A fault may be defined as a fracture or a zone of fractures
in rock along which displacement has occurred.
Faults
n  Dip-Slip Faults
n  Normal Fault
n  Reverse Fault
n  Strike-slip faults
n  Oblique Faults
Significant Earthquakes
Seismic Hazards
n  Ground shaking
n  Structural hazards
n  Liquefaction
n  Landslides
n  Lifeline hazards
n  Tsunami
Structural Hazards
 Liquefaction
The strength of soil is reduced, often drastically,
to the point where it is unable to support
structures.
Flow failures Lateral spreading Sandboils
 Landslide
Results from liquefaction or
failure of slopes that were
marginally stable under
static conditions.
Lifeline Hazards
Lifeline systems include power plants,
transmission towers, buried electrical cables,
oil and gas pipelines, etc
Tsunami
Long-period sea waves resulting from rapid
vertical seafloor movements caused by fault
rupture during earthquakes.
Plate Tectonics

Eurasian Plate

Pacific
Philippine
Plate
Sea Plate

Australian Plate
Major Disasters in the
Phiippines
Earthquake Terminology

epicentral distance
epicenter
observing station
Dip angle

Focal
fault plane depth

hypocenter
Earthquake classification

Classification according to depth

n  Shallow earthquakes – focal depths less
than approximately 40 mi (60 km).
n  Intermediate – 40 to 190 mi (60 to 300
km)
n  Deep – 190 to 450 mi (700 km)
Seismic Waves
n  Body waves
n  P-wave
n  S-wave
n  Surface Waves*
n  Love wave
n  Rayleigh wave

* May or may not form

P-wave
n  Also known as the primary wave,
compressional wave, or longitudinal wave.
n  Causes a series of compressions and dilations
of the materials through which it travels.
n  Fastest wave (5800 m/s in granite) & the first
to arrive at a site.
n  Can travel through both solids and liquids.
n  Usually has the least impact on ground
surface movements.
 P-wave

Source: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm
S-wave
n  Known as the secondary wave, shear wave,
or transverse wave.
n  Causes shearing deformations of the
materials through which it travels.
n  Only travel through solids.
n  Travels more slowly (3000 m/s in granite)
through the ground than a P wave.
n  Typically have the greatest impact on ground
surface movements.
 S-wave

Source: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm
Love wave
n  Love waves are analogous to S waves in that
they are transverse shear waves that travel
close to the ground surface
n  They are largest at the surface and decrease
in amplitude with depth.
n  Depth of penetration is also dependent on
frequency, with lower frequencies penetrating
to greater depth
n  Arrive after P- and S-waves at 2700 m/s in
granite
 Love wave

Source: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm
Rayleigh wave
n  Rayleigh waves produce both vertical and
horizontal displacement of the ground as the
surface waves propagate outward.
n  Appearance and particle motion are similar to
water waves.
n  Generally, Rayleigh waves travel slightly
slower (2700 m/s in granite) than Love
waves.
 Rayleigh wave

Source: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm
 Body waves
Wave Type Particle Motion
(and names)
P, Alternating compressions
Compressional, (“pushes”) and dilations
Primary, (“pulls”) which are directed in
Longitudinal the same direction as the wave
is propagating (along the
raypath); and therefore,
perpendicular to the wavefront.
S, Alternating transverse motions
Shear, Secondary, (perpendicular to the direction
Transverse of propagation, and the
raypath); commonly
approximately polarized such
that particle motion is in
vertical or horizontal planes.
Source: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm
Other Characteristics
P motion travels fastest in materials, so
the P-wave is the first-arriving energy on
a seismogram. Generally smaller and
higher frequency than the S and Surface-
waves. P waves in a liquid or gas are
pressure waves, including sound waves.
S-waves do not travel through fluids, so
do not exist in Earth’s outer core
(inferred to be primarily liquid iron) or
in air or water or molten rock (magma).
S waves travel slower than P waves in a
solid and, therefore, arrive after the P
wave.
 Surface waves
Wave Type Particle Motion Other Characteristics
(and names)
L, Transverse horizontal Love waves exist because of the Earth’s surface.
Love, Surface motion, perpendicular to the They are largest at the surface and decrease in
waves, Long direction of propagation and amplitude with depth. Love waves are dispersive,
waves generally parallel to the that is, the wave velocity is dependent on frequency,
Earth’s surface. generally with low frequencies propagating at higher
velocity. Depth of penetration of the Love waves is
also dependent on frequency, with lower frequencies
penetrating to greater depth.
R, Motion is both in the Rayleigh waves are also dispersive and the
Rayleigh, direction of propagation and amplitudes generally decrease with depth in the
Surface waves, perpendicular (in a vertical Earth. Appearance and particle motion are similar to
Long waves, plane), and “phased” so that water waves. Depth of penetration of the Rayleigh
Ground roll the motion is generally waves is also dependent on frequency, with lower
elliptical – either prograde frequencies penetrating to greater depth. Generally,
or retrograde. Rayleigh waves travel slightly slower than Love
waves.
Q: Seismic wave type shown?
Wave propagation
Seismometer
Seismometers (or seismographs)
are instruments that measure and
record , as a function of time,
motions of the ground, including
those of seismic waves.
Accelerograph
 Locating the epicenter
⎛ 1 1 ⎞
t S − t P = ⎜⎜ − ⎟⎟ s
⎝ v S v P ⎠
Strength of an Earthquake
n  Intensity - based on the observations of
damaged structures, reactions of people
and the presence of secondary effects.

n  Magnitude – measures amount of energy

released from an earthquake
Earthquake Intensity
n  Oldest measure of earthquake size
n  Qualitative description of effects
n  Obtained from interviews of observers
after the event
n  Rossi-Forel (RF) scale, Mercalli intensity
(MMI) scale, Japanese Meteorological
Agency (JMA), Medvedev-Spoonheuer-
Karnik (MSK) scale.
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale
Rossi-Forel scale
Comparison of earthquake intensity values
Isoseismal Maps
n  Contours of equal
intensity over

n  Obtained by
observation, interviews
after an earthquake.
Earthquake Magnitude
n  Local Magnitude Scale ML
n  Surface Wave Magnitude Scale Ms
n  Body Wave Magnitude Scale Mb
n  Moment Magnitude Scale Mw
Richter Local Magnitude ML
The magnitude is calculated as follows
(Richter 1935):
ML = log10 (A/A0)
where
A – maximum trace amplitude in mm
recorded by a standard Wood-Anderson
seismograph.
A0 – seismometer reading by a calibration
earthquake. Generally, 0.001 mm.
Richter Magnitude Correction Nomograph
Surface Wave Magnitude Scale Ms
Defined as follows (Gutenberg and Richter
1956):

Ms = log A + 1.66 log Δ + 2.0

where
A - maximum ground displacement, µm
Δ - epicentral distance to seismograph
measured in degrees
Body Wave Magnitude Scale Mb
Defined as follows (Gutenberg 1945):

Mb = log A - log T + 0.01 Δ + 5.9

where
A - p-wave amplitude, µm
T – period of the p-wave, 1 sec.
Δ - epicentral distance to seismograph
measured in degrees
 Moment Magnitude Scale Mw

n  Previously
described
magnitude scales
are empirical
quantities
n  For strong
earthquakes,
scales are less
sensitive -
saturation
Moment Magnitude Scale Mw

Defined as (Kanamori 1977)

Mw = (log M0)/1.5 – 10.7

where
M0 – seismic moment
= μ Af D
Earthquake Energy
Total radiated energy released during an
earthquake is estimated (Gutenberg &
Richter, 1956) as

log E = 11.8 + 1.5 Ms

where E is expressed in ergs.

Length of active fault

Approximate correlation between the Richter

Magnitude M, with the approximate total
fault length, L in Km:

log L = 1.02M – 5.77

Summary
n  The earth’s crust is broken into a number of large plates
and smaller platelets. Shear stresses at the bottom of the
plates, caused by lateral movement of the convecting
mantle, and gravitational forces cause the plates to move
with respect to each other.

n  Relative movements of the plates causes stresses to build

up on their boundaries. As movement occurs, strain
energy accumulates in the vicinity of the boundaries. This
energy is eventually dissipated: either smoothly and
continuously or in a stick-slip manner that produces
earthquakes. The size of the earthquake depends on the
amount of energy released.
Summary
n  There are three different types of plate boundaries and
their characteristics influence the amount of strain energy
that can build up near them. As a result the different
types of boundaries have different earthquake capabilities:
subduction zones can produce the largest earthquakes,
followed by transform plate boundaries and then by
spreading ridge boundaries.

n  The surfaces on which relative movements occur are

called faults. At a particular location, a fault is assumed o
be planar with an orientation described by its strike and
dip. Fault movement is divided into dip-slip components
(normal and reverse faulting) and strike-slip components
(left lateral and right lateral faulting)
Summary
n  Earthquake intensity is a qualitative measure of the
effects of an earthquake at a particular location. It is
related to the size of the earthquake but is also influenced
by other factors. Because no instrumental measurements
are required, historical accounts can be used to estimate
the intensity values for preinstrumental earthquakes.

n  Earthquake magnitude is a quantitative measure of the

size of an earthquake. Most magnitudes are based on
measured ground motion characteristics. Because these
amplitudes tend to reach limiting values, these
magnitudes may not be accurate to reflect very large
earthquakes. The moment magnitude, which is not
obtained from ground motion characteristics, is able to
describe the size of any earthquake.