Geotechnical Earthquake

Engineering

-Introduction to Geotechnical Earthquake

Engineering, Seismology

Dr. S. S. Chandrasekaran
• 4-1-2016
• 6.7 Magnitude Earthquake In Northeast
Kills 8, Injures Nearly 100
SEISMIC ZONES OF INDIA (IS 1893-I- 2002)
 Introduction
• Earthquake Engineering deals with the effects of
earthquakes on people and their environment and with
methods of reducing those effects.
• Earthquake engg. is a very broad field – Geology,
Seismology, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural
Engineering, Risk Analysis.
• Its practice requires consideration of social, economic
and political factors.
• Written records of eartquakes in China date as far back
as 3000 years.
• Today, hundreds of millions of people throughout the
world live with a significant risk to their lives and property
from earthquakes.
• Billions of dollars of public infrastructure are continuously
at risk of earthquke damage.
 Introduction
• Earthquakes have occurred for millions of years and will
continue in the future as they have in the past.
• Some will occur in remote, undeveloped areas where
damage will be negligible.
• Others, will occur near densely populated urban areas
and subject their inhabitants and infrastructure they
depend on to strong shaking.
• It is impossible to prevent earthquakes from occuring (or
even to predict), but it is possible to mitigate the effects
of strong earthquake shaking and reduce loss of life and
damage.
 Introduction
• An earthquake is the vibration of Earth produced by the
rapid release of energy.
• Earthquakes are the result of rocks breaking
under stress
• Over 30,000 earthquakes occur worldwide annually
• Generally only about 75 significant earthquakes takes
place each year.
• The 1950 Himalayan earthquake was equivalent to an
energy released by explosions of 100 000 Atomic
bombs!
 Seismic Hazards
• Number of naturally occuring events – earthquakes, hurricanes,
floods, volcanoes are capable of causing deaths and damages. –
Natural Hazards.
• Hazards associated with earthquakes – Seismic Hazards.
• Ground Shaking
• Structural Hazards
• Liquefaction
• Landslides
• Retaining Structure Failures
• Lifeline Hazards
• Tsunami and Seische Hazards
 Seismic Hazards-Ground Shaking

• When an earthquake occurs, seismic waves radiate

away from the source and travel rapidly through earth’s
crust.
• When these waves reach the ground surface, they
produce shaking that may last from seconds to minutes.
• Strength and duration of shaking at a particular site
depends on the size and location of the earthquake and
on the characteristics of the site.
• At site near source of large earthquake, ground shaking
can cause tremendous damage.
• Ground shaking- most important – because all the other
hazards are caused by it.
Ground Shaking
 Ground Shaking
• Seismic action at bed rock level
– depends on the magnitude, source properties and
properties of the path medium.
Modification of the incoming wave field characteristics
(amplitude, frequency, duration) due to soil
characteristics and topography.
Although seismic waves travel through rock over the
overwhelming majority of their trip from source of an
earthquake to ground surface, the final portion of that trip
is often through soil.
The characteristics of the soil can greatly influence the
nature of shaking at the ground surface.
Soil deposits tend to act as filters to seismic waves by
attenuating motion at certain frequencies and amplifying
it at others. Evaluation of effects of local soil conditions
on strong ground motion is important.
 Seismic Hazards – Structural Hazards

• Most dramatic and memorable images of earthquake

damages are those of structural collapse.
• As earthquake resistant design has moved from an
emphasis on structural strength to emphases on both
strength and ductility, the need for accurate predictions
of ground motions has increased.
• Geotechnical earthquake engineer is responsible for
providing the structural engineer with appropriate design
ground motions.
 Structural Hazards
• Structural damage due to Inertia force
during intense ground shaking
– Frequency matching leading to resonance
• Indirect damage due to liquefaction or
lateral spreading of the ground
 Column shear failure,
Core concrete from plastic hinge need replacement,
1994 Northridge earthquake.
Column shear failure because of failure of transverse
reinforcement,
1994 Northridge earthquake.
Buckling of freeway support column due to high
vertical accelerations imposed,
1994 Northridge earthquake.
Seismic Hazards -Liquefaction
--Liquefaction is the rapid loss of shear strength in
cohesionless soils subjected to dynamic loading
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Definitions and hazards

• Liquefaction susceptibility

• Initiation of liquefaction

• Liquefaction effects

• Liquefaction resistance of soils

Factors affecting liquefaction characteristics
• Grain-size distribution of sand
• Density of deposit
• Vibration characteristics
• Location of drainage and dimensions of
deposit
• Magnitude and nature of superimposed loads
• Method of soil formation/soil structure
• Period under sustained load
• Previous strain history
• Entrapped air.
Niigata, Japan 1964- Due to liquefaction
Liquefaction
Sand boil
Lateral Spreading
 Seismic Hazards- Landslides
• Strong earthquakes often cause
landslides.
• Many earthquake induced landslides result
from liquefaction phenomena, but many
others represent the failure of slopes that
were marginally stable under static
conditions.
Landslides
Landslides
 Seismic Hazards- Retaining
Structure Failures
• Anchored bulkheads, quay walls and other retaining
structures are frequently damaged in earthquakes.
• Damages concentrated in water front areas – ports,
harbours
• Business losses associated with their failure can go far
beyond the costs of repair/ reconstruction.
Seismic Hazards- Lifeline Hazards
• Services required for commerce and public health
• Lifelines - Electrical power, telecommunications,
transportation, water and sewage, oil and gas
distribution, waste storage systems.
• Lifeline systems- power plants, transmission towers,
roads, bridges, harbours, airports, reservoirs.
• Lifeline failures not only have severe economic
consequences but also adversely affect the environment
and quality of life following an earthquake.
• Lifeline failures can also hamper emergency response
and rescue efforts immediately following damaging
earthquakes.
 Flexural failure above column base, due to
premature termination of longitudinal reinforcement
and inadequate confinement, 1995 Kobe
earthquake.
Shear failure of one of the expressway columns,
Spalling of concrete,
1995 Kobe earthquake.
 Lifeline hazards

Million Dollar Bridge after 1964 Alaska Showa Bridge after 1964 Niigata earthquake
earthquake

Bridge in Taiwan after 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake

Kandla port building after 2001
Bhuj earthquake
 Seismic Hazards- Tsunami and
Seiche Hazards
• Rapid vertical seafloor movements caused by fault rupture during
earthquakes can produce long period sea waves called Tsunamis.
• In the open sea, tsunamis travel great distances at high speeds but
are difficult to detect – they usually have heights of less than 1 m
and wavelengths of several hundred kilometers.
• As tsunami approaches shore, however, decreasing water depth
causes its speed to decrease and the height of the wave to
increase.
• In some coastal areas, the shape of the sea floor may amplify the
wave, producing a nearly a vertical wall of water that rushes far
inland and causes devastating damages.
• Earthquake-induced waves in enclosed bodies of water are called
Seiches.
 Earthquake Hazards in India
• India has a long history of earthquake occurrences.
 About 65% of the total area of the country is vulnerable to
seismic damage of buildings in varying degrees.
 Most vulnerable areas - the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan
regions, Kutch and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Seismic regions:
1. Kashmir and Western Himalayas - Covers the
states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh and sub-mountainous areas of Punjab
2. Central Himalayas - Includes the mountain and
sub-mountain regions of Uttar Pradesh and the
sub-mountainous parts of Punjab
3. North-east India - Comprises the whole of
Indian territory to the east of north Bengal
4. Indo-Gangetic basin and Rajasthan - comprises
of Rajasthan, plains of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal
5. Cambay and Rann of Kutch
6. Peninsular India, including the islands of
Lakshwadeep
7. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands
 Global Seismic Hazard
Earthquakes in IndiaAssessment Program (GSHAP)

• Collision of India with

Asia
– region of greatest
continental tectonic
deformation in the world
• 15% of great
earthquakes ( M 8.0) in
the 20th Century
• Assam EQ =8.5 – 7th Assam
largest
• Major earthquakes are at
plate boundaries, high velocity
intraplate, and along
known faults
Seismic sources
List of Major Earthquakes in India in
the last 100 years

EQ’s happened both at plate boundaries, intra plate and known faults
(even in the shield region)
 Peninsular India
GSHAP - Sources

Shield regions also generate earthquakes, much Coimbotore

Killari
less frequently and of smaller magnitude, the Jabalpur
activity occurring on paleorifts and other pre- Ongole
existing structures. Bhadrachalam
Bellary
Historic seismicity in Koyna

peninsular India
Bhuj Earthquake --most disastrous

Epicentre
SEISMIC ZONE OF INDIA (Revised)
Internal structure of the earth
Earth – roughly spherical. It
has a slight bulge around
the equator which is due
to Earths rotation.
Equatorial diameter of
12740 km and polar
diameter of 12700 km.

The Earth weighs 5.4 x 1021 tons,

average specific gravity of about 5.5.
Sp. Gravity of surficial rocks of the order
of 2.7 to 3, higher specific gravities are
implied at greater depths
Earth’s face is an uneven surface: The elevation of
the land masses are much higher than those of the
ocean floors, and in addition, there are great
heights, such as Mt. Everest, towering to an
elevation above sea level some 8708 m, as well as
great depths in the oceans such as the Mariana
Trench, which is 10740 m below sea level!
 Geological Time Scale

• Someone 100 years old seems to be very

old to us.
• A 1000 year structure, we call ancient.
• In geology, an event that has occurred
about 1 million years ago is “recent”
• A rock sample that has been dated as 10
million years is “young”.
 SEISMIC WAVES

During Earthquake two types of seismic waves are produced–

BODY WAVES and SURFACE WAVES.
Body waves travel through interior of the earth (propagate within a
body of solid rock and soil) are of 2 types: P wave and S wave
• Faster body wave – Primary or P – wave (OR Compressional
OR Longitudinal waves)
 It pushes (compression) and pulls (dilates) the rock/soil
 involves successive compression and rarefaction of the
materials through which they pass.
 They induce volume change (no distortion)
 BODY WAVES….
• P-waves:
 The motion of the individual particle that a p-wave travels
through is parallel to the direction of travel
 Like sound waves, travel through solid rock and soil and
liquid material such as volcanic magma or the
water of lakes or oceans
 Speed depends on stiffness of the materials they travel
through
Seismic Waves
 BODY WAVES…

• S-waves: (Secondary or Shear or Transverse waves)

– s-waves cause shearing deformations as they travel
through a material.
– The motion of an individual particle is perpendicular to
the direction of s-wave travel.
 S – wave
•–
It shears the rock /soil sideways at right angle to the
direction of travel
Induce distortion under constant volume
 Produce both vertical (SV) and horizontal (SH) motion
 Cannot propagate in the liquid (as fluids have no shearing
stiffness)
.Amplitude significantly reduces in the liquefied soil
 SURFACE WAVES

Surface wave
 result from interaction between body waves and the surface
and surfacial layers of earth
Motion restricted to near to Earth’s surface
 Similar to ocean waves that do not disturb the water at
depths, surface displacement decreases with depth.
They travel along the earth’s surface with amplitudes that
decrease exponentially with depth
More prominent at distances farther from the source of the
earthquake
•
 SURFACE WAVES

• For near surface earthquake engineering problems, the earth is

often idealized as a semi-infinite body

• Surface waves are those waves whose motion is concentrated in a

in a shallow region near the free surface

• Since the surface waves attenuate more slowly than body waves,
they are of at most important in earthquake engineering problems

• Two types of surface waves are of primary importance in

earthquake engineering are:
1) Rayleigh wave
2) love wave
 SURFACE WAVES….
• Rayleigh waves
– Rayleigh waves are produced by interaction of
p- and SV-waves with the earth’s surface
– Rayleigh waves involve both vertical and
horizontal particle motion
 SURFACE WAVES….
• Love waves:
– Love waves result from the interaction of SH-
waves with a soft surficial layer and have no
vertical component of particle motion.
Seismic Waves
Internal structure

Radius : 6371 km
Density : 5.5
Density of crust : 3

The density of the core may be iron-

nickel composition
Composition and Differentiation
 Continental Drift

The idea that continents, particularly South

America and Africa, fit together like pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle originated with improved world
maps.

However, little significance was to given this idea

until 1915, when a German climatologist and
geophysicist Alfred Wegener set forth his
hypothesis of Continental drift.
The observation
 The Hypothesis
Wegener suggested that a supercontinent he called PANGAEA
(meaning “all land”) once existed. He further hypothesized that,
about 200 million years ago, this supercontinent began breaking
into smaller continents, which then drifted to their present
positions.
Evidence 1: Both continents fit well

As the shore lines are

continuously modified by
erosional processes, the match
is not perfect at the
coastlines.—in 1915.

In 1960s, when people started

believing this concept, the
scientists produced a map that
attempted to fit the edges of the
continental shelves at a depth
of 900m. The fit is remarkable.

There are overlaps in some

places where streams have
deposited large quantities of
sediments.
 Evidence 2-- fossils
Fossils of Mesosaurus have been found on bothsides and
nowhere else in the world. Fossil remains of this and other
organisms on these continents appear to link these landmasses
during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.
 Evidence 3—matching mountain range

(A)The Appalachian Mountains

trend along the eastern flank of
North America and disappear
off the coast of Newfoundland.
Mountains of comparable age
A and structure are found in the
British Isles and Scandinavia.

(B) When these land masses are

placed in their predrift
locations, these ancient
mountain chains form a nearly
continuous belt.
B
Matching mountain range across
the North Atlantic
Evidence 4-- Ancient climate

A. The
supercontinent
showing the area
covered by glacial
ice 300 million years
ago

B. The continents as
they are today. The
shading outlines are
areas where
evidence of the old
ice sheets exists.
• Even though most of Wegener’s
contemporaries opposed and ridiculed
his views, a few considered his ideas
plausible. They continued the search
for additional evidence and the exciting
concept of “Plate Tectonics” was finally
accepted.
 Plate Tectonics
• The original theory of continental drift suggested images
of massive continents pushing through the sea and
across the ocean floor.
• It was well known, however, that the ocean floor was too
strong to permit such motion, and the theory of
continental drift was originally discredited by most earth
scientists.
• From this background, the modern theory of Plate
Tectonics began to evolve.
 Plate Tectonics
• The earth’s surface consists of number of large, intact
blocks, called plates and these plates move with respect
to each other.
• The earth’s crust divided into six continental sized plates
(African, American, Antarctic, Australia- Indian, Eurasian
and Pacific) and about 14 of subcontinental size (eg.
Caribbean, Cocos, Phillipine etc.).
• Smaller platelets or microplates, have broken from the
larger plates in the vicinity of major plate boundaries.
• The relative deformation between plates occurs only in
narrow zones near their boundaries.
 Plate Tectonics
• The deformation of plates can occur slowly and
continuously (aseismic deformation) or can occur
spasmodically in the form of earthquakes (seismic
deformation).
• Since the deformation occurs predominantly at the
boundaries between the plates, locations of earthquakes
concentrated near plate boundaries.
• The theory of plate tectonics is a kinematic theory.
 Earthquake patterns
• Scientists showed that a close association
between plate boundaries and Earthquakes!
 Plate Tectonics
• Something must drive the movement, and the
tremendous mass of the moving plates requires that the
driving forces be very large.
• Most widely accepted explanation – requirement of
thermomechanical equlibirium of the earth’s materials.
• The upper portion of the mantle is in contact with
relatively cool crust while the lower portion is in contact
with the hot outer core. Temperature gradient exist with
in the mantle.
 Plate Tectonics- Convection
• The variation of mantle density with temperature
produces unstable situation of denser (cooler) material
resting on the top of the less dense (warmer) material.
• Eventually, the cooler, denser material begins to sink
under the action of gravity and the warmer, less denser
material begins to rise.
• The sinking material gradually warms and becomes less
dense; eventually, it will move laterally and begin to rise
again as subsequently cooled material begins to sink.
• The process – Convection.
Mantle Convection
 Plate Boundaries

Three types of plate boundaries

• Divergent (or) Spreading ridge boundaries

• Convergent (or) Subduction zone boundaries

• Transform Fault boundaries

Plate Boundaries and Plate Boundary Interactions
Divergent (or) Spreading ridge boundary
Divergent (or) Spreading ridge boundary

• Plates move apart from each other at boundaries.

• Molten rock from the underlying mantle rises to the
surface where it cools and becomes part of the
spreading plates.
• Plates grow at the spreading ridge.
• Spreading rates – 2 to 18 cm/year – highest in Pacific
Ocean ridges, lowest in Mid-Altantic ridge
• The mantle material cools after it reaches the surface in
the gap between the spreading plates.
 Divergent Boundaries

Atlantic Ocean Red sea

 Convergent (or) Subduction zone
boundaries
• The creation of new plate material at spreading must be
balanced by the consumption of plate material at other
locations.
• This occurs at subduction zone boundaries where
relative movement of two plates is towards each other.
• At the point of contact, one plate plunges or subducts,
beneath the other.
• Because the oceanic crust is generally cold and dense, it
sinks under its own weight beneath the lighter
continental crust.
• When the rate of plate convergence is high, a trench is
formed at the boundary between plates.
Convergent (or) Subduction zone
boundaries
Convergent boundaries
Subduction zone boundaries are often
found near the edges of continents.

The earthquakes in these tectonically

active boundary regions are called plate-
edge earthquakes.

The very hazardous shallow earthquakes

of Chile, California, Southern Mexico,
Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Indonesia,
New Zealand, and The Alpine-Cancasions-
Himalayan belt are of plate-edge-type.
 Transform fault boundaries

• Transform faults occur where plates move past each

other without creating new crust or consuming old crust.
• Segment of the fracture zone between the spreading
ridges is referred as transform fault.
• Eg. San Andreas fault
Transform fault boundaries
Transform boundaries
Plate Boundaries: Distribution of Earthquakes
 Faults
• Theory of plate tectonics generally assigns the
relative movement of plates to one of the three
types of plate boundaries.
• But locally the movement between two portions
of the crust will occur on new or preexisting
offsets in the geologic structure of the crust
known as faults.

• Faults may range in length from a few meters to

many kilometers and extend from the ground
surface to depth of several tens of kilometers.

• Their presence may be obvious, as reflected in

surficial topography, or they may be very
difficult to detect.
• Faults are drawn on a geological map on
continuum or broken lines
Faults
Faults
 Fault Geometry
• Described in terms of the
fault plane and the direction
of slip along the plane
• The orientation of the fault
plane is described by its
strike and dip
• The strike of a fault is the
horizontal line produced by
the intersection of the fault
plane and a horizontal
plane.
• The downward slope of a
fault plane is described by
the dip angle, which is the
angle between the fault Geometric notation for description
plane and a horizontal plane of fault plane orientation
measured perpendicular to
the strike.
• A vertical fault would have
an dip angle of 90°.
 Fault movement - Dip-Slip movement
• Movement in the direction
of the dip.
• Dip slip faults are
classified according to
the direction of movement
and dip angle
• A normal fault is one in
which the material above
inclined fault (hanging
wall) moves downward
relative to the material
below the fault (foot wall).
• Normal fault- tensile
stresses and horizontal
lengthening of the crust.
 Dip slip movement

• A reverse fault is one in

which the material
above the inclined fault
surface moves upward
relative to the block
below the fault

• Reverse fault -
compressive stresses
and horizontal
shortening of the crust
 Dip slip movement

• A special type of reverse

fault is a thrust fault,
which occurs when the
fault plane has a small dip
angle.
• In blind thrust faults, the
slip surface does not
extend to the ground
surface.
Fault movement: Strike slip movement
• A Strike-slip fault involves
displacements of rock
laterally, parallel to the
strike.
• Nearly vertical, produce
large movements
• If when we stand on one
side of a fault and see the
motion on the other side is
form left to right, the fault is
Right lateral strike-slip.
• Material on the other side
moving to left- Left lateral
strike-slip.
Right lateral strike slip fault

Fence offset
by 2.5 m

2.5 m
San Andreas fault – Right lateral strike slip
 Oblique fault

• In most cases, fault slip is a mixture of strike-

slip and dip-slip and is called oblique fault.
 Elastic Rebound Theory
• The elastic rebound model proposed by
H.F.Reid after the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake is a useful guide to how an
earthquake may occur.

• In this model, materials at distances on

opposite sides of the fault move relative to
each other, but friction on the fault “locks” it
and prevents the sides from slipping.

• Eventually the strain accumulated in the rock

is more than the rock on the fault can
withstand, and the fault slips, resulting an
earthquake.
 Elastic Rebound Theory

• The model illustrated in

Figure by the changes to
five parallel lines, drawn
normal to the trace of the
fault in the unstrained state
• Suppose they have steadily
increasing shear forces on
two blocks or rocks
separated by existing fault.
Because of friction, there is
low movement.
• Far from the trace of the
fault in the five lines, they
are straight and parallel,
but close to it they are bent.
 Elastic Rebound Theory
• Finally, the strain becomes more
than the fault can support, and its
weak part of the fault suddenly
slips, and this rupture extends
rapidly along part of the fault
plane, allowing the blocks on
either side of it to jerk into a less
strained state.
• The relative displacement that
has been taking place preferably
between the adjacent plates
during years or decades is
achieved the fault plane in a few
seconds.
• The strained rocks adjacent to the
fault ‘rebound’ suddenly. The
accumulated strain energy is
released with the seismic speed
of the ruptured rocks which is
several km/sec.
 Elastic Rebound Theory

• The segments B1C1D1E1

undergo compression, while
BCDE experience dilatation.
• The entire length of the fault
plane is not displaced, only
on the region at which the
breaking point has been
exceeded.
• The greater the length of the
fault plane that is activated,
the larger is the ensuring
earthquake.
 Other sources of seismic activity -
Classification of Earthquakes
Tectonic earthquakes -- Rocks below the earth’s surface
break suddenly in response to various geological
forces.
Volcanic earthquakes -- Due to eruption of volcanoes.
Collapse earthquakes --Arising from underground
collapse of mines or caves.
Explosion earthquakes -- Originating from man-made
underground nuclear explosions.
Reservoir induced earthquakes -- Due to filling of
reservoirs after construction of dams.
About 90% of all earthquakes result from Tectonic
events, primarily movements on faults.
 Earthquake Terms
• The point at which rupture
begins and the first seismic
waves originate is called the
focus or hypocenter.
• The ‘epicenter’ is the point
on the ground surface that
lies directly above the focus.
• The ‘focal depth’ is the depth
of the focus below the
ground surface.
• The epicentral distance is the
distance from the epicenter
to the point of interest on the
surface of the earth (site or Notation for description
observer) and the distance
between the site or observer of earthquake location
and the focus is focal
distance or hypocentral
distance.
Epicentre

Focus
 Locating Earthquakes

• The location of earthquake is often

initially specified in terms of the
location of its epicenter.

• Preliminary location is based on the

relative arrival time of P and S-waves at
a set of at least three seismographs.
Locating an earthquake using first arrivals
 Locating Earthquakes
• Since P-waves travel faster than S-waves, they will
arrive first at a given seismograph.
• The difference in arrival times will depend on the
difference between P and S-wave velocities, and
the distance of the seismograph and the focus of
the earthquake according to
t p  s
d
1  1
Vs
vp
where
• tp-s = The difference in time between the first P and S - wave
arrivals.
• vp - P-wave velocity (3000 to 8000 m/s in bed rock)
• vs S-wave velocity (2000 to 5000 m/s in bed rock)
• Using any single seismograph, it is
possible to determine the epicentral
distance but not the direction of the
epicenter.
• As we do not know the direction of the
earthquake, we can locate the source only
on arc centered on the seismogram station,
but if the procedure is repeated for other
stations then each distance can be drawn
as an arc and their intersection locates the
earthquake
• .
Locating Earthquakes
 Size of Earthquakes
Intensity and magnitude

• The intensity of an earthquake

is an assessment of its effects
at a particular location
(Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale -- I to XII)

• The magnitude of an earthquake

is a measure of the amount of
energy released.
QUANTIFICATION OF EARTHQUAKES:

There are two methods to describe the size of an earthquake.They are

i) Intensity: Parameter that is based on its effect on living and non-
living things on the region visited by it (Qualitative).
ii) Magnitude: It is the term expressing the rating of an earthquake
on the basis of amplitude of seismic waves recorded as
seismograms and hence it is the measure of energy released
(Quantitative).

Earthquake Intensity:
• Intensity can be defined as a classification of the strength of
shaking at any place during an earthquake in terms of its observed
effects i.e,it is the measure of damage to works of man, to the
ground surface and of human reaction to shaking.

• Because qualitative description of the effects of Earthquakes are

available through recorded history, the concept of intensity can be
applied to historical account to estimate the location and size
 Earthquake Intensity

• The oldest method for describing the size of an

earthquake is its maximum intensity (amount of
damage caused)
• These methods were used extensively in the past
before seismometers had been invented
(seismometers have been around for only about
100 years)
• The most well known intensity scale is known as
the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. It varies from
I for very small damage to XII for very extensive
damage
Earthquake Intensity - Modified Mercalli
Intensity Scale:
Class Ground Type Name Typical General Effects
Acceleration
(mm/Sec2)
I <10 Instrumental Recorded by seismographs only.
II 10-25 Very Feeble Felt by some persons at rest,
especially those staying in upper
floors.
III 25-50 Slight Felt by everyone at rest; vibrations
like those of passing-by vehicles.
IV 50-100 Moderate Felt by people in motion like,
jolting; slight rattling of windows
and doors.
V 100-250 Rather Felt by nearly everyone, many
Strong awakened. Some dishes,
windows, etc broken; unstable
objects overturned; pendulum
clocks may stop.
VI 250-500 Strong General Panic; people leave
houses; widespread displacement
of movable objects within the
houses; poor class buildings get
damaged; plasters starts cracking.

VII 500-1000 Very Strong Everyone runs outdoors.

Damaged negligibly in buildings of
good design and construction;
considerable in poorly built or
badly designed structures; some
chimneys broken.
VIII 1000-2500 Destructive General fall of chimneys, tanks and
projections; Steering of vehicles in
motion gets disordered; branches
fall of from the trees; masonry
buildings of C and D class start
collapsing. Cracks develop in the
ground.
IX 2500-5000 Ruinous Ground cracks conspicuously;
underground pipes broken;
damaged considerable in specially
designed structures and great in
substantial buildings, with partial
collapse.
X 5000-7500 Disastrous Most masonry and framed structures
destroyed with foundations; ground
badly cracked. Rails bent.
Landslides considerable from river
banks and steep slopes. Water
splashed over banks.
XI 7500-9800 Very Bridges destroyed. Broad
disastrous fissures in ground.
Underground pipelines
completely out of service.
Earth slumps and landslips in
soft ground. Rails bent greatly.
XII >9800 Catastrophic Damage total. Practically all
works of construction are
damaged greatly. Waves seen
on the ground surface. Line of
sight and level are distorted.
Objects are thrown into the Air.
SEISMIC ZONE OF INDIA (Revised)
Describing Earthquakes
MAGNITUDE
• The more modern method of describing
earthquake size is by magnitude
• Magnitudes are related to the size of the
waves that are recorded by seismometers
• Magnitudes are much more accurate than
maximum intensities in describing
earthquake size
• More objective and quantitative measure
came with the development of modern
instrumentation
Describing Earthquakes

By size:

• The four main magnitude scales are:

 ML (Local magnitude)
 Ms (Surface wave magnitude)
 mb (Body wave magnitude)
 Mw (Moment magnitude)

• Each one has merits and demerits.

 Richter Local Magnitude
• The magnitude scales used today stem from
the one introduced by Richter in 1955. This
scale was designed by the network of Wood–
Anderson seismometers.

• Richter defined the magnitude of a local

earthquake as the logarithm to base ten of
the maximum seismic wave amplitude in
microns recorded on a Wood–Anderson
seismograph located at a distance of 100 km
from the earthquake epicenter.
• An increase of 1 in magnitude means
the amplitude is 10 times as large (the
energy is about 30 times as large)
• The fundamental period of the Wood-
Anderson seismograph is 0.8 second
and therefore it selectively amplifies
these seismic waves with a period
ranging approximately from 0.5 to 1.5
seconds.
• Because the natural period of many
building structures are within this range,
the local Richter magnitude remains of
value to engineers.
Definition of local Richter magnitude
 Surface Wave Magnitude
• At large epicentral distances (more than 200 km ),
body waves have usually been attenuated and
scattered sufficiently that the resulting motion is
dominated by surface waves.

• Gutenberg defined a magnitude scale (Ms) which is

based on the measuring amplitude of Rayleigh
waves with a period of 20 sec.
• The surface wave magnitude is obtained from

Ms = logA + 1.66 log + 2.0

where A = max. ground displacement in

micrometers
 = epicentral distance of the seismometer
measured in degrees (360 degrees =
• The surface wave magnitude is based
on the max. ground displacement
amplitude therefore it can be
determined from any type of
seismograph.

• The surface wave magnitude is most

commonly used to describe the size of
shallow (less than about 70 km focal
depth), distant (farther than about 1000
km) moderate to large earthquakes.
 Body Wave Magnitude

• Deep focus earthquakes have only small or

insignificant trains of surface waves. But the
amplitude of body waves is not sensitive to the focal
depth.
• An equation -- proposed by Gutenberg in 1945 can
be used to calculate a body wave magnitude (mb)
from the maximum amplitude of the ground motion
associated with P - waves having a period of about
one sec.

mb = logA - logT - 0.01 + 5.9

where A is the P - wave amplitude in micrometers,

T is the period of P - wave and
 is the epicentral distance.
 Moment Magnitude
• Magnitude estimates based on both body
waves and surface waves are dependent on
the period of the portion of the wave train
with maximum amplitude.

• The area A of the fractured segment and the

distance D by which it slipped can be
inferred. Together with the rigidity modulus 
of the rocks adjacent to the fault, these
quantities define the seismic moment Mo of
the earthquake, assuming that the
displacement and rigidity are constant over
the area of the rupture
Mo =  A D
 Moment Magnitude (Mw)

• The seismic moment can be used to obtain

moment magnitude (Mw):

log M o
Mw   10.7
1.5
where
Mo is the seismic moment in dyne-cm.

• Moment magnitude has largely replaced Ms in

scientific evaluation of earthquake size,
although Ms is often quoted in reports in the
media.
Describing Earthquakes

Moment magnitude was

developed to achieve a single
unified magnitude scale
applicable to earthquakes of
all sizes, depths and
locations
 Magnitude Saturation
• As the total amount of energy released during
an earthquake increases, however, the
ground-shaking characteristics do not
necessarily increase at the same rate.
• For strong earthquakes, the measured
ground-shaking characteristics become less
sensitive to the size of earthquake than for
smaller earthquakes.
• This phenomenon is referred to as
"saturation", the body wave and Richter local
magnitudes saturate at magnitudes of 6 to 7
and the surface wave magnitude saturates at
about Ms = 8.
• Moment magnitude scale (Mw) is the only
magnitude scale which does not suffer from
the above mentioned saturation problem for
great earthquakes.
• It is due to the fact that it is directly based on
the forces that work at the fault rupture to
produce the earthquake and the recorded
amplitude of specific types of seismic waves.
• The relationship between the various
magnitudes is shown. Saturation of the
instrumental scales is indicated by their
flattening at higher magnitude values.
Saturation of various magnitude scales
• Bolt (2001) suggests the use of different
scales for measuring shallow earthquake of
various magnitudes:

ML or mb - for magnitudes between 3 and 7

MS - for magnitude between 5 and 7.5

Mw - for all magnitude

 Earthquake Energy
• The total seismic energy released during an
earthquake is often estimated from the
following empirical formulae proposed by
Gutenberg and Richter (1956) :

log E = 11.8 + 1.5 MS

where E is expressed in ergs. This

relationship is also applicable to moment
magnitude as well. It implies that a unit
change in magnitude corresponds to a 101.5
or 32 - fold increase in seismic energy.
• 1 erg = 10−7 J = 100 nJ
• 1 erg = 10−10sn·m = 100 psn·m = 100
picosthène-metres
• 1 erg = 624.15 GeV = 6.2415×1011 eV
• 1 erg = 1 dyne cm = 1 g·cm2/s2