Earthquakes

An earthquake (also known as a tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of

energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a
seismometer, also known as a seismograph. The moment magnitude of an earthquake is
conventionally reported, or the related and mostly obsolete Richter magnitude, with
magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly imperceptible and magnitude 7 causing
serious damage over large areas. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli
scale.

Terminology
An earthquake can be likened to the effect observed when a stone is thrown into
water. After the stone hits the water a series of concentric waves will move outwards from the
center. The same events occur in an earthquake. There is a sudden movement within the crust
or mantle, and concentric shock waves move out from that point. Geologists and Geographers
call the origin of the earthquake the focus. Since this is often deep below the surface and
difficult to map, the location of the earthquake is often referred to as the point on the Earth
surface directly above the focus. This point is called the epicentre.
Earthquakes are three dimensional events, the waves move outwards from the focus,
but can travel in both the horizontal and vertical plains. This produces three different types of
waves which have their own distinct characteristics and can only move through certain layers
within the Earth. Lets take a look at these three forms of shock waves.

Types of Shockwaves
P-Waves
Primary Waves (P-Waves) are identical in character to sound waves. They are high
frequency, short-wavelength, longitudinal waves which can pass through both solids and
liquids. The ground is forced to move forwards and backwards as it is compressed and
decompressed. This produces relatively small displacements of the ground.
P Waves can be reflected and refracted, and under certain circumstances can change into SWaves.

Particles are compressed and expanded in the wave's direction.

S-Waves
Secondary Waves (S-Waves) travel more slowly than P-Waves and arrive at any given
point after the P-Waves. Like P-Waves they are high frequency, short-wavelength waves, but

instead of being longitudinal they are transverse. They move in all directions away from their
source, at speeds which depend upon the density of the rocks through which they are moving.
They cannot move through liquids. On the surface of the Earth, S-Waves are responsible for
the sideways displacement of walls and fences, leaving them 'S' shaped.

S-waves move particles at 90 to the wave's direction.

L-Waves
Surface Waves (L-Waves) are low frequency transverse vibrations with a long
wavelength. They are created close to the epicentre and can only travel through the outer part
of the crust. They are responsible for the majority of the building damage caused by
earthquakes. This is because L Waves have a motion similar to that of waves in the sea. The
ground is made to move in a circular motion, causing it to rise and fall as visible waves move
across the ground. Together with secondary effects such as landslides, fires and tsunami these
waves account for the loss of approximately 10,000 lives and over $100 million per year.

L-waves move particles in a circular path.

Causes of Earthquakes
Tectonic Earthquakes
Tectonic earthquakes are triggered when the crust becomes subjected to strain, and
eventually moves. The theory of plate tectonics explains how the crust of the Earth is made of
several plates, large areas of crust which float on the Mantle. Since these plates are free to
slowly move, they can either drift towards each other, away from each other or slide past
each other. Many of the earthquakes which we feel are located in the areas where plates
collide or try to slide past each other.
The process which explains these earthquakes, known as Elastic Rebound Theory can
be demonstrated with a green twig or branch. Holding both ends, the twig can be slowly bent.
As it is bent, energy is built up within it. A point will be reached where the twig suddenly

snaps. At this moment the energy within the twig has exceeded the Elastic Limit of the twig.
As it snaps the energy is released, causing the twig to vibrate and to produce sound waves.
Volcanic Earthquakes
Volcanic earthquakes are far less common than Tectonic ones. They are triggered by
the explosive eruption of a volcano. Given that not all volcanoes are prone to violent
eruption, and that most are 'quiet' for the majority of the time, it is not surprising to find that
they are comparatively rare.
When a volcano explodes, it is likely that the associated earthquake effects will be
confined to an area 10 to 20 miles around its base, where as a tectonic earthquake may be felt
around the globe. The volcanoes which are most likely to explode violently are those which
produce acidic lava. Acidic lava cools and sets very quickly upon contact with the air. This
tends to chock the volcanic vent and block the further escape of pressure.
When extraordinary levels of pressure develop, the resultant explosion can be
devastating, producing an earthquake of considerable magnitude. When Krakatoa ( Indonesia,
between Java and Sumatra ) exploded in 1883, the explosion was heard over 5000 km away
in Australia. The shockwaves produced a series of tsunami ( large sea waves ), one of which
was over 36m high; that's the same as four, two story houses stacked on top of each other.
These swept over the coastal areas of Java and Sumatra killing over 36,000 people.
By contrast, volcanoes producing free flowing basic lava rarely cause earthquakes.
The lava flows freely out of the vent and down the sides of the volcano, releasing pressure
evenly and constantly. Since pressure doesn't build up, violent explosions do not occur.
Induced seismicity
While most earthquakes are caused by movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, human
activity can also produce earthquakes. Four main reasons contribute to this phenomenon:
constructing large dams and buildings, drilling and injecting liquid into wells, and by coal
mining and oil drilling. Perhaps the best known example is the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in
China's Sichuan Province in May; this tremor resulted in 69,227 fatalities and is the 19th
deadliest earthquake of all time.

Measuring the Severity of Quakes

Richter Scale
The Richter magnitude scale, also known as the local magnitude (ML) scale,
assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake.
It is a base-10 logarithmic scale obtained by calculating the logarithm of the combined
horizontal amplitude of the largest displacement from zero on a WoodAnderson torsion
seismometer output.

where A is the maximum excursion of the Wood-Anderson seismograph, the empirical

function A0 depends only on the epicentral distance of the station, delta. In practice, readings

from all observing stations are averaged after adjustment with station-specific corrections to
obtain the ML value.
Richter
Description Earthquake effects
magnitudes

Frequency
occurrence

of

Less than 2.0 Micro

Microearthquakes, not felt.

About 8,000 per

day

2.0-2.9

Generally not felt, but recorded.

About 1,000 per

day

Often felt, but rarely causes damage.

49,000 per year

(est.)

Minor
3.0-3.9

4.0-4.9

Light

Noticeable shaking of indoor items, rattling 6,200 per year

noises. Significant damage unlikely.
(est.)

5.0-5.9

Moderate

Can cause major damage to poorly constructed

buildings over small regions. At most slight 800 per year
damage to well-designed buildings.

6.0-6.9

Strong

Can be destructive in areas up to about 160

120 per year
kilometres (100 mi) across in populated areas.

7.0-7.9

Major

Can cause serious damage over larger areas.

18 per year

Can cause serious damage in areas several

1 per year
hundred miles across.

8.0-8.9
Great

Devastating in areas several thousand miles

1 per 20 years
across.

9.0-9.9

10.0+

Epic

Never recorded; see below for equivalent seismic Extremely rare

energy yield.
(Unknown)

Modified Mercalli Scale

The Modified Mercalli Scale of earthquake damage measures the intensity of an
earthquake at a particular place. It uses the type and amount of damage. Unlike the Richter
Scale, it does not measure the absolute strength of the earthquake, but how strongly it is felt
at a particular place. This makes the Mercalli Scale useful in comparing damage from
different quakes and in plotting damage patterns from a given quake. This type of comparison
has helped scientists figure out the factors that contribute to earthquake damage.
Mercalli
Intensity

Witness Observations

Equivalent
Richter
Magnitude
1.0 to 2.0

II

2.0 to 3.0

Felt by a few people, especially on upper floors.

III

3.0 to 4.0

IV

4.0

4.0 to 5.0

VI

5.0 to 6.0

VII

6.0

VIII

6.0 to 7.0

IX

7.0

7.0 to 8.0

XI

8.0

XII

8.0 or greater

Felt by very few people; barely noticeable.

Noticeable indoors, especially on upperfloors, but may not be
recognized as an earthquake.
Felt by many indoors, few outdoors. May feel like heavy truck
passing by.
Felt by almost everyone, some people awakened. Small objects
moved. trees and poles may shake.
Felt by everyone. Difficult to stand. Some heavy furniture
moved, some plaster falls. Chimneys may be slightly damaged.
Slight to moderate damage in well built, ordinary structures.
Considerable damage to poorly built structures. Some walls may
fall.
Little damage in specially built structures. Considerable damage
to ordinary buildings, severe damage to poorly built structures.
Some walls collapse.
Considerable damage to specially built structures, buildings
shifted off foundations. Ground cracked noticeably. Wholesale
destruction. Landslides.
Most masonry and frame structures and their foundations
destroyed. Ground badly cracked. Landslides. Wholesale
destruction.
Total damage. Few, if any, structures standing. Bridges
destroyed. Wide cracks in ground. Waves seen on ground.
Total damage. Waves seen on ground. Objects thrown up into air.

Shallow-Focus and Deep-Focus Earthquakes

The majority of tectonic earthquakes originate at the ring of fire in depths not
exceeding tens of kilometers. Earthquakes occurring at a depth of less than 70 km are
classified as 'shallow-focus' earthquakes, while those with a focal-depth between 70 and
300 km are commonly termed 'mid-focus' or 'intermediate-depth' earthquakes. In subduction
zones, where older and colder oceanic crust descends beneath another tectonic plate, deep-

focus earthquakes may occur at much greater depths (ranging from 300 up to 700
kilometers).
Earthquake clusters
Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location
and time. Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors which cause little to no damage,
but there is a theory that earthquakes repeat themselves.
Aftershocks
An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the
mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a smaller
magnitude. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as
the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock. Aftershocks are
formed as the crust around the displaced fault plane adjusts to the effects of the main shock.
Earthquake swarms
Earthquake swarms are sequences of earthquakes striking in a specific area within a
short period of time. They are different from earthquakes followed by a series of aftershocks
by the fact that no single earthquake in the sequence is obviously the main shock; therefore
none have notable higher magnitudes than the other.
Earthquake storms
Sometimes a series of earthquakes occur in a sort of earthquake storm, where the
earthquakes strike a fault in clusters, each triggered by the shaking or stress redistribution of
the previous earthquakes. Similar to aftershocks but on adjacent segments of fault, these
storms occur over the course of years, and with some of the later earthquakes as damaging as
the early ones. Such a pattern was observed in the sequence of about a dozen earthquakes that
struck the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey in the 20th century and has been inferred for older
anomalous clusters of large earthquakes in the Middle East.

Effects/Impacts of Earthquakes
There are many effects of earthquakes including, but not limited to the following:
Shaking and ground rupture
Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally
resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings or other rigid structures. The severity of
the local effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the
distance from epicenter, and the local geological and geomorphological conditions, which
may amplify or reduce wave propagation. The ground-shaking is measured by ground
acceleration.
Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce
high levels of shaking on the ground surface even from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect
is called site or local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion

from hard deep soils to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy focalization
owing to typical geometrical setting of the deposits.
Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the
trace of the fault, which may be of the order of several meters in the case of major
earthquakes. Ground rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams,
bridges and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify
any likely to break the ground surface within the life of the structure.
Landslides and avalanches
Landslides are a major geologic hazard because they can happen at any place in the
world, much like earthquakes. Severe storms, earthquakes, volcanic activity, coastal wave
attack, and wildfires can all produce slope instability. Landslide danger may be possible even
though emergency personnel are attempting rescue.
Fires

Fires of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Following an earthquake, fires can be generated by break of the electrical power or
gas lines. In the event of water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become
difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started. For example, the deaths in the 1906
San Francisco earthquake were caused more by the fires than by the earthquake itself.
Soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular
material (such as sand) temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid.
Soil liquefaction may cause rigid structures, as buildings or bridges, to tilt or sink into the
liquefied deposits. This can be a devastating effect of earthquakes. For example, in the 1964
Alaska earthquake, many buildings were sunk into the ground by soil liquefaction, eventually
collapsing upon them.
Tsunami

Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by an sudden or

abrupt movement of large volumes of water. In the open ocean, the distance between wave
crests can surpass 100 kilometers, and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one
hour. Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour, depending on water depth. Large
waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas
in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across open ocean
and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.
Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale do not
cause tsunamis, although some instances of this have been recorded. Most destructive
tsunamis are caused by earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.
Floods
A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches land. Floods usually occur
because of the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the
total capacity of the formation, and as a result some of the water flows or sits outside of the
normal perimeter of the body. However, floods may be secondary effects of earthquakes, if
dams are damaged. Earthquakes may cause landslips to dam rivers, which then collapse and
cause floods. The terrain below the Sarez Lake in Tajikistan is in danger of catastrophic flood
if the landslide dam formed by the earthquake, known as the Usoi Dam, were to fail during a
future earthquake. Impact projections suggest the flood could affect roughly 5 million people.
Human impacts
Earthquakes may result in disease, lack of basic necessities, loss of life, higher
insurance premiums, general property damage, road and bridge damage, and collapse of
buildings or destabilization of the base of buildings; this may lead to collapse in future
earthquakes. Earthquakes can also precede volcanic eruptions, which cause further problems;
for example, substantial crop damage.

Prediction
In order to determine the likelihood for future seismic activity, geologists and other
scientists examine the rock of an area to determine if the rock appears to be "strained".
Studying the faults of an area to study the buildup time it takes for the fault to build up stress
sufficient for an earthquake also serves as an effective prediction technique. Measurements of
the amount of pressure which collocates on the fault line each year, time passed since the last
major temblor, and the energy and power of the last earthquake are made.