Class 7

7.
SEISMOLOGY AND
EARTHQUAKE….
SEISMIC HAZARD ANALYSIS(MSTR502)
Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 1

• Earthquake Recording Instrumentations
Seismoscope
Seismograph
Accelerograph
Microtremor (for Research Propose)

• Seismoscopes
• The first earthquake recorder was an artistic
device invented by a Chinese scholar, Chang
Heng, about 132 A.D.
• It did not record the complete time history
of the earthquake waves, but did record the
direction of principal impulse due to an
earthquake.

• Seismoscopes
Left: Photograph showing Chinese scholar Chang Heng with the

seismoscope, he designed (about 132 A.D.). Right: Maori god of earthquake
Chang Heng's seismoscope
• Seismoscopes
A wine jar of diameter six feet.
On the outside of the vessel there were

eight dragon heads, facing the eight
principal directions of the compass.
Below each of the dragon heads was a

frog, with its mouth opened toward the
dragon.
The mouth of each dragon held a ball.
The inside of the chinese seismoscope is

unknown.

• Seismoscopes
At the occurrence of an EQ, one of

the eight dragon-mouths would
release a ball into the open mouth.
The direction of the shaking

determined which of the dragons
released its ball.
The instrument is reported to have

detected a four-hundred-mile
distant EQ, which was not felt at the
location of the seismoscope.

Seismoscopes cont….
European Seismoscopes (function)
J. de la Haute Feuille (1703)- proposed filling a bowl with

mercury, so that an EQ would cause some of the mercury to
spill out .
Nicholas Cirillo (1731)- simple pendulums .
D. Salsano (1783) - invented a "geo-sismometro”
–common pendulum, eight and a half feet long.
–Use a brush and dry ink to record the slow motion

Seismoscope (time) D. D. Torre (1796)
•Pendulum
•A record, written by a pencil attached pressed

gently against paper.
•Hair on the pendulum mass which would start

the clock.

Seismoscope (period) James Ford

(1844)
Inverted pendulum design
–Recognized value of long period

instrument
–common pendulum, 10-20ft
–period of 4-5s

Cecchi (1875)
–start a clock
–start into motion the recording

surface at the time of an EQ.

Seismograph
The instrument which measure the earthquake

shaking and record them is called as
Seismograph.
The first accurate seismographs were

developed in Japan in 1880 by the British
geologist John Milne, often known as the father
of seismology.
In a seismogram, the EQ waves are recorded

in the order. (i.e., P-waves being the fastest,
recorded first, followed by s-waves and then
slowest L-waves)
Seismometer is a sensor part of a

seismograph.
Seismograph cont….
Part of Seismograph
(a)Sensor
(b) Recorder
(c) Timer

Part of Seismograph
(a)Sensor
It consists of a pendulum mass, string,
magnet, and support
The sensor is used to sense or detect
vibrations
(b) Recorder
 It consists of a drum, pen, and chart
paper. The chart paper is wrapped on the
drum.
The recorder is used to record the
seismic vibration on a paper.
(c) Timer
The timer is the motor that rotates the
drum having chart paper at constant
speed
Working of a Seismograph
The simple pendulum ( a string and

mass) is suspended freely, but a magnet
is tied around the string to dampen the
oscillation (i.e. to control or to reduce the
amplitude of oscillation).
A pen is attached the tip of the pendulum

which marks the moment or oscillation of
the pendulum on the chart paper
wrapped around the rotating drum.

Working of a Seismograph
When EQ is occurs, the vibration are

produced and the pendulum vibrates
simultaneously, thus recording these
vibrations on the paper with the pen.
Since, EQ motion is two dimensional, one

such instrument is also required in each
perpendicular direction to record both
components of motion.

A typical seismograph station may have

three components, oriented to two
horizontal directions and one vertical
direction

How to measure horizontal ground motion?
When the ground moves, the mass tends to

remain stationary because of its inertia, but the
support (frame) moves with the Earth.

How to measure horizontal ground motion?
The movement of the Earth relative to the

stationary mass is recorded on a rotating drum.

How to measure vertical ground motion?
The principle is the same, but the mass is

suspended on a spring.

Seismogram
The record of an EQ is called as Seismogram.

(simply the recording of the seismic waves,
detected by a seismograph.)
In a seismogram, the EQ waves are recorded in

the order. (i.e., P-waves being the fastest,
recorded first, followed by s-waves and then
slowest L-waves)

Seismogram
Working of a Seismograph Note:
•The seismographs can record only

mild and weak vibrations which are
not high intensity.
•Nowadays, digital instruments are

used which records the ground motion
on the memory of inbuilt computer

Modern Seismograph
How to measure?
Most modern seismographs work

electromagnetically.
•A large magnet is used for the mass

and the outside case contains
numerous windings of fine wire.
•Movements of the case relative to

the magnet generate small electric
signals in the wire coil.
•These signals are then amplified

electronically and stored digitally
on a computer.

Modern Seismograph
How to measure?
This electric current is transmitted

to a digitizer which converts the analog
(continuous) signal to a digital
(discrete) signal.
Each discrete observation of the

current is written to a computer disk
along with the corresponding time.
These times series’ are downloaded

to computers and
processed/analyzed.

Type of Seismograph cont….
i. Short-period seismographs
Short-period seismographs are used
to study primary and secondary
vibrations, the fastest-moving seismic
waves.
These waves move so quickly, the

short-period seismograph takes less
than a second to complete one full
oscillation.
It also magnifies the resulting

seismograms .

ii. Long-period seismographs

The pendulums in long
(intermediate) period seismographs
generally take up to twenty seconds to
oscillate.
They are used to measure slower-

moving waves such as Love and
Rayleigh waves.
The seismographs whose pendulums

have the longest periods are called
ultra-long or broad-band instruments.

Typical frequencies generated by different seismic

sources
Frequency (Hz) Type of measurements

0.001-0.01 Surface waves, earthquakes
0.01-0.1 Surface waves, P and S waves,
earthquakes with
M>6
0.1-10 P and S waves, earthquakes
with M> 2
10-1000 P and S waves, earthquakes,
M< 2

Accelerograp
They are usually constructed as a self-contained box ,

more commonly now being connected directly to the
Internet.
 A strong-motion seismometer measures acceleration. This
can be mathematically integrated later to give velocity and
displacement.

Accelerograp cont….
The Great Sumatra Earthquake of 2004
Magnitude 8.7 March 28, 2005 Seismograms

Recorded at Boston College, USA

Accelerograp cont….
The Great Sumatra Earthquake of 2004
March 28, 2005 M8.7 Sumatra earthquake, as

recorded at GNI station in Armenia (60 Degrees
from the epicenter)

Introduction and Features of Gorkha Earthquake
Acceleration Histories in Kanti Path, KTM
Resultant Horizontal Acceleration (PGAR) = 0.164 g

Type of Accelerograp cont….
Digital accelerographs
Digital accelerographs came into operation almost 50
years after the first analog strong motion recorders.
Advantages
1.They operate continuously and by
use of pre-event memory are able to
retain the first wave arrivals.
2. Their dynamic range is much
wider, the transducers having
natural frequencies of 50 to 100 Hz
or even higher.
3. Analog-to-digital conversion is
performed within the instrument,
thus no need to digitize the
records.

Microtremor
Instrument used in microtremor survey
Three components (EW, NS and

UP) of ground motion (velocity)
measured at single station

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7.

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 1

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 2

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 3

Left: Photograph showing Chinese scholar Chang Heng with the

A wine jar of diameter six feet.

On the outside of the vessel there were

Below each of the dragon heads was a

The mouth of each dragon held a ball.

The inside of the chinese seismoscope is

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 5

At the occurrence of an EQ, one of

The direction of the shaking

The instrument is reported to have

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 6

J. de la Haute Feuille (1703)- proposed filling a bowl with

Nicholas Cirillo (1731)- simple pendulums .

D. Salsano (1783) - invented a "geo-sismometro”

–common pendulum, eight and a half feet long.

–Use a brush and dry ink to record the slow motion

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 7

Seismoscope (time) D. D. Torre (1796)

•A record, written by a pencil attached pressed

•Hair on the pendulum mass which would start

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 8

Seismoscope (period) James Ford

Inverted pendulum design

–Recognized value of long period

–common pendulum, 10-20ft

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 9

–start into motion the recording

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 10

The instrument which measure the earthquake

The first accurate seismographs were

In a seismogram, the EQ waves are recorded

Seismometer is a sensor part of a

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 12

The simple pendulum ( a string and

A pen is attached the tip of the pendulum

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 14

When EQ is occurs, the vibration are

Since, EQ motion is two dimensional, one

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 15

A typical seismograph station may have

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 16

How to measure horizontal ground motion?

When the ground moves, the mass tends to

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 17

How to measure horizontal ground motion?

The movement of the Earth relative to the

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 18

How to measure vertical ground motion?

The principle is the same, but the mass is

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 19

The record of an EQ is called as Seismogram.

In a seismogram, the EQ waves are recorded in

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 20

Working of a Seismograph Note:

•The seismographs can record only

•Nowadays, digital instruments are

Er. Umesh Jung Thapa 21

Most modern seismographs work