FAULTING

AND
SEISMIC
ZONES
OVERVIEW

The resulting
fracture in the
Earth’s crust is
termed a ‘fault.’
 A network of
interconnected
fractures
representing the
surficial expression
of a fault.

FAULT ZONE
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVE FAULTS

PHILIPPINE FAULT ZONE

 1,300 km long fault system that stretches N-S
from Ilocos to eastern Mindanao
 Left-lateral strike-slip
 Average slip rate of 1.5 to 3.6 cms/year
 M7.8 July 16, 1990 Luzon Earthquake along the
Digdig Fault segment
 M7.3 March 17, 1970 Ragay Gulf Earthquake
 M6.2 February 15, 2003 Masbate Earthquake

Source: DOST-PHIVOLCS
 VALLEY FAULT SYSTEM
 Originally the Marikina Fault, a pair of
segmented faults that forms the Marikina
River Valley and transects the eastern
margins of Metro Manila
 Consists of the West Valley Fault (WVF) and
the East Valley Fault (EVF)
 Right-lateral strike-slip fault

Source: DOST-PHIVOLCS

EXAMPLES OF ACTIVE FAULTS

PARAMETERS IN FAULT MOTION

1. Azimuth (φ): angle between the trace

of the fault and the northerly direction
(0° ≤ φ ≤ 360°).

2. Dip (δ): angle between the fault and

the horizontal plane (0° ≤ δ ≤ 90°).

3. Slip or rake (λ): angle between the

direction of relative displacement and
the horizontal direction (−180° ≤ λ ≤
180°).
 4. Relative displacement (Δu): distance
travelled by a point on either side of the
fault plane. If Δu varies along the fault
plane, its mean value is generally used.

5. Area (S): surface area of the highly

stressed region within the fault plane.

PARAMETERS IN FAULT MOTION

FUNDAMENTAL FAULT
MECHANICS
Several fault mechanisms exist depending on how the plates move with respect to
one another (Housner, 1973). The most common mechanisms of earthquake
sources are the following:

1. Dip‐slip faults – one block moves vertically with respect to the other.

a) Normal fault appears to be that the suspended wall moves downward

relative to the foot wall.
 Several fault mechanisms exist depending on how the plates move with respect to
one another (Housner, 1973). The most common mechanisms of earthquake
sources are the following:

1. Dip‐slip faults – one block moves vertically with respect to the other.

b) Reverse fault - the hanging wall moves upward relative to the foot wall.
Examples: The 1971 San Fernando earthquake in California was caused by rupture
of a reverse fault.

FUNDAMENTAL FAULT
FUNDAMENTAL FAULT
MECHANICS
2. Strike‐slip faults - the adjacent blocks move horizontally past one another.
Strike‐slip can be right‐lateral or left‐lateral, depending on the sense of the
relative motion of the blocks for an observer located on one side of the fault line.
An example of strike‐slip occurred in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake on the
San Andreas fault.
 3. Oblique Several faults exhibit combinations of strike‐slip and dip ‐slip
movements; the latter are termed ‘oblique slip’. Oblique slips can be either normal
or reverse and right‐ or left‐lateral.

FUNDAMENTAL FAULT
SOURCE PARAMETERS

Hypocenter also known as the focus or

the earthquake's source, the hypocenter
is the actual location within the Earth
where the seismic rupture occurs. It is
typically described by its depth below
the Earth's surface.
 Epicenter refers to the point on the
Earth's surface directly above the
earthquake's source, where the seismic
waves originate. It is determined based
on seismic recordings from multiple
stations and triangulation techniques.

Focal Depth

SOURCE PARAMETERS
SOURCE PARAMETERS

Epicentral Distance is defined as the

distance on the ground surface between
the site and the earthquake epicenter.

Hypocentral/Focal Distance refers to

the distance between a specific point of
interest (such as a seismic station) and
the hypocenter of an earthquake
 Focal mechanisms are mathematical or geometrical depictions of earthquake
faulting.

1. Strike Angle, φ - the azimuth (with respect to North) of the trace of the fault on a
horizontal plane such as the Earth’s surface

2. Dip Angle, δ - the steepness of the fault

3. Rake or Slip angle, λ - the direction of motion, within the fault plane and relative
to the horizontal, of the hanging wall relative to the foot wall

FOCAL MECHANISMS
FOCAL MECHANISMS
 Determine the source mechanism of faults
with a dip δ = 60 degrees and a rake λ = 45
degrees.

Note:
The rake/slip angle is negative for normal
faults and positive for reverse faults.
If dip > 0, fault plane is inclined. This can
exhibit horizontal motion if λ = ± 180 or 0
degrees, while, vertical if λ = ± 90 degrees.

Answer: Left-lateral/Reverse Fault

SAMPLE PROBLEM
BODY WAVES
Longitudinal or Primary waves

• P-waves force the rock to alternately push (or compress) and pull (or tension).
• Have a low potential for damage.
• P-waves exhibit similar properties to sound waves, show small amplitudes and
short periods, and can travel through liquid and solids and gases.
• Travel at a quicker rate, between 1.5 to 8 kilometers per second.
 Transverse or secondary waves

• S-wave causes side-to-side motion that is both vertical and horizontal.

• Such waves are often referred to as "shear waves" because they cause shear
stresses in the rock along their pathways.
• Both the horizontal (SH) and vertical (SV) components of their motion can cause
significant damage.
• Shear waves are similar to electromagnetic waves. They have huge amplitudes,
lengthy periods, and cannot travel through fluids.

BODY WAVES
BODY WAVES
The propagation velocities of P - and S - waves within an isotropic elastic medium
with density ρ are as follows:

The ratio of P - and S - wave velocities.

ν - values characterizing ordinary soil types, i.e. with ν ranging between 0.30 and
0.50
 Why is it called a surface wave?
• Most prominent in shallow earthquake that happens (0-70km deep)

• Surface waves are likely to cause severe damage to structural system during
an earthquake

SURFACE WAVES
SURFACE WAVES

Love Wave (L or LQ Waves)

• Horizontal motion/movement

• Moves faster

• Large amplitude and long periods

• Velocity of about 4.0km/s

 Rayleigh wave (R or LR Waves)

• Elliptical pattern in terms of movement

• Generated by the interaction of the
body waves as they pass by
• Moves slower than S-wave
• Exhibit very large amplitudes and
regular waveforms
• Assumed by (Bolt, 1999) velocity of LR
waves is given by the equation of 0.92
Vs ; Vs = velocity of S-waves

SURFACE WAVES
LOCATING EPICENTER AND
ORIGIN TIME
The procedure to locate an earthquake epicentre and origin time, i.e. time of
initiating of fault rupture, is as follows:

(a) Obtain seismogram records for a given observation site.

(b) Select the arrival time of the body waves on the record traces.

(c) Compute the time delay Ar in the arrival of P- and S-waves.

(d) Subtract the travel time At from the arrival time at the observation site to
obtain the origin time.
(e) Use equations (1.3.1) or (1.3.2) to evaluate the distance Ar between the seismic
station and the epicentre. The use of either equations (1.3.1) or (1.3.2) depends on
the data available for the soil profile and approximation accepted.

(f) Draw a circle on a map around the station location (or centre) with a radius
equal to Ax. The curve plotted shows a series of possible locations for the
earthquake epicentre.

(g) Repeat steps (a) to (f) for a second seismic station. A new circle is drawn; the
latter intersects the circle of the first station at two points.

(h) Repeat steps (a) to (f) for a third seismic station. It identifies which of the two
previous possible points is acceptable and corresponds to the earthquake
source.
 Locate and mark on the map provided in
Figure 1.12 the epicentre of an earthquake
that was recorded in Italy by three
observation sites with a time delay
between P- and S-waves of 5.0, 7.5 and 6.0
seconds, respectively. The body wave
velocities are 8.5 and 4.30 km/s; it is up
to the reader to determine which of these
values refer to P- and S-waves. Compare
the results obtained by Eq. (1.3.1) with
those estimated from Eq. (1.3.2).

SAMPLE PROBLEM
SAMPLE PROBLEM

For a quick evaluation, Omori's formula (Kanai, 1983)

may also be used (∆x in km. ∆t in seconds)
SAMPLE PROBLEM
 Department of Science and Technology – PHIVOLCS

Fundamentals of Earthquake Engineering by Amr S. Elnashai and Luigi Di Sarno

RESOURCES:
FAULTING
AND
SEISMIC
ZONES