Earthquakes, Seismology, and

Mountain building
Mohammad Moshiur Rahman
mohammd.rahman@northsouth.edu
 Rock Strength
• Under compression, rock are very
strong.
• Under tension, rocks are very
weak.
 Strain and Deformation
• Elastic
– Absorb, store, and release energy
• Plastic
– Absorb and internally consume energy
– Permanent deformation
• Brittle
– Absorb, exceed, and break
– Permanent deformation
 Seismic wave

Kinds of Shockwaves
• Shear
 Kinds of Shockwaves

• Shear
• Compression
 focus
epicenter
 Seismic Energy
Released at the Focus
• Body waves
–Shear, designate “S”
–Compression, designated “P”
 intensity: amount of damage that an
earthquake causes

magnitude: the actual amount of Earth

movement
 Mercalli/Rossi Scale
1. Not felt except by very few
2. Felt only by few persons at rest
3. Felt quite noticeably indoors
4. Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few
5. Felt by nearly everyone, many awakened
6. Felt by all, many frightened
7. Everybody runs outdoors
8. Damage slight in designed structures
9. Damage considerable in designed structures
10. Some well built wooden structure destroyed
11. Few, if any, structures remain standing
12. Damage total
 Mercalli/Rossi Scale
1. Not felt except by very few
2. Felt only by few persons at rest
3. Felt quite noticeably indoors
4. Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few
5. Felt by nearly everyone, many awakened
6. Felt by all, many frightened
7. Everybody runs outdoors
8. Damage slight in designed structures
9. Damage considerable in designed structures
10.Guiseppe Mercalli (1850-1914)
Some well built wooden structure destroyed
11. Few, if any, structures remain standing
Michele Stefano de Rossi (1834-1898)
12. Damage total
 Relative Earthquake Scale
1. Detected only by sensitive scientific instruments
2. Detected by individuals standing quietly at rest
3. Felt by everyone
4. Dishes, windows disturbed
5. Damage slight
6. Damage slight in designed structures
7. Damage considerable in designed structures
8. Few, if any, structures remain standing
9. Shock waves seen on ground surface
10. Damage total
Richter scale
 The Richter scale measures actual
Earth movement and energy released.

With every step up on the Richter

scale, the actual amount of Earth
movement is multiplied by 10
 Richter Scale
8.0 and Great earthquakes.
up
7.0 Major earthquake.
6.0 Destructive earthquake.
4.5 Some local damage may occur.
3.5 Felt by many people
2.5 Generally not felt
 With every step up on the Richter
scale, the actual amount of energy is
multiplied by 30

tsunami: harbor wave

meter: instrument that measure but does not
leave a record

graph: instrument that measure and also

leaves a recording

seismometer
P waves

S waves
 Possible Definition
for “Mountain”
• A mountain is any topographic feature
higher than 1,000 feet above the
surrounding terrain
 Kinds of Mountains
• Volcanic
• Block-fault
• Domal
• Foldbelt
 Oceanic Ridge
• The biggest mountain range in the world
in terms of length
• A total of 40,000 miles all connected
together
• One in every ocean
Block Fault Mountains
 Basin Range
Scenarios
• The generation of high-angle
normal faults
 Basin Range
Scenarios
• The generation of high-angle
normal faults
• Faults alternate direction
 Basin Range
Characteristics
• North-South trending
• Block fault mountains
foldbelt mountains
 Components of
Foldbelt Mountains
• Side-by-side
• Almost always paralleling the
edge of the continent
James Hall
1811-1898
 Hall’s Discovery
• The total thickness of sedimentary
rock within the folded Appalachians
was many times greater than the
total thickness of sedimentary rocks
in the interior of the continent (the
Mississippi Valley)
 orogenic styles

Orogeny involves massive

horizontal compression

Epeirogeny involves massive

vertical compression
 Orogenic styles
• Ocean-continent
• Ocean-island arc-continent
• Continent-continent
 Geoclines
• The only place you have geoclines
involved is in opening oceans like the
Atlantic. You do not have geoclines
involved in closing oceans.