Module Number

Shaking ground
Linking Earthquake Magnitude and Intensity
How does the magnitude of an
earthquake impact shaking?
How does shaking impact intensity and
destruction?

Quantitative concepts and skills

Logarithmic Scales and Exponential scaling
Graph reading
Circle geometry (calculating the area of a circle)
Exponential Functions
Roman numerals

Prepared for SSAC by

Eric Baer - Highline Community College
The Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education. All rights reserved. *YEAR*

Problem
Earthquake magnitude is commonly used to represent
the size of an earthquake. However, most people want
to understand how much impact or damage
earthquakes do. These two concepts are linked by
shaking. Earthquake magnitude can be measured in a
variety of ways, most commonly moment magnitude or
Richter magnitude. Shaking is measured in units of
acceleration, (often a percentage of g). Damage or
intensity can be measured by the modified Mercalli
intensity (MMI) scale.

Magnitude
and Location

Amount of
shaking (g)

Intensity
(MMI)

How does the magnitude of an earthquake impact the amount

of shaking one feels and the extent of damage?
3

Overview of Module

Earthquakes cause damage. The damage is determined not only by

the magnitude of the earthquake, but how far you are away from the
epicenter of the earthquake. In this lab you will explore how these
factors impact shaking and damage.
Slides 4-9 Relate magnitude and shaking (acceleration)
Slides 10-12 Relate shaking to intensity
Slides 13-14 Analyze and present results
Slide 15 Questions at the end

Relating Magnitude, Distance and Acceleration

The amount of shaking at a specific location in an earthquake is dependent on 3
factors:
Distance to the focus
Magnitude of the quake
Local effects, such as soft-sediment amplification (which we will ignore).
The relationship between magnitude and shaking (acceleration)

a =1300*(e0.67*M)*(D+25) -1.6
Where a is acceleration (in units of cm/sec2) , M is
magnitude, and D is distance (in km) (From Donovan, 1973)

= Cell with a number in it.

= Cell with an equation in it.

Create a spreadsheet to
calculate shaking for a
given magnitude and
distance
Predictions of damage from an earthquake are not easy to make, and require several critical
assumptions. Two assumptions we will make are:
That there are no local soil effects (such as liquefaction)
That ground shaking will cause the damage (i.e., no tsunami, large fires, etc.)

Change the acceleration units

The amount of shaking in an earthquake is measured in terms of
acceleration. The units are typically in gs where 1g is the acceleration
you feel due to gravity. If earthquake shaking is 1g, that means that it is
equivalent to the acceleration due to gravity. Therefore, if you were
standing on a scale and experienced 1g of acceleration (vertically) the
scale would range from 0, when you are thrown upwards and briefly
become weightless, to twice your weight, when you land. Typical
accelerations in earthquakes are between 0.05 and 1gs. 0.005gs would be
barely felt (and not felt by many), shaking over 0.05gs is unpleasant, and
few buildings would survive an acceleration of more than 0.5gs.
Acceleration is a critical factor
measurement in an earthquake
because it determines how much
force is applied to a structure.
F=ma
Since the mass of a structure is
constant, the acceleration is the
determinant of the force. If the force
applied exceeds the strength of the
building, it will fail.

Convert the acceleration

to gs (divide by 980)
-create a new column.

= Cell with a number in it.

= Cell with an equation in it.

Create a large table

Create a table of distance versus acceleration for M6, M6.5, M7,
M7.5, M8, and M9 earthquakes. Use distances of 2, 5, 10, 20,
40, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 km.

The fill down command

is helpful here.

= Cell with a number in it.

= Cell with an equation in it.

This table continues continue filling down

for all the requested magnitudes and
distances.

Create a Graph

Create a graph of distance versus acceleration for M6,

M6.5, M7, M7.5, M8, and M9 earthquakes.
Make the x axis logarithmic.

Acceleration vs. Intensity at different scales

Change the scale(s) on your graph so you can zoom in

and read the graph easily at large and small
accelerations

Read a Graph

For each magnitude earthquake, how far

from the earthquake will the shaking be
unpleasant (= 0.05 g)?

Over what area will the earthquake

be unpleasant?

The formula for area of a circle is

A = r2

General Information

For each earthquake, determine the area

in which the shaking will be unpleasant
but not catastrophic (i.e., between 0.05g
and 0.5g)?

You will need to find the

area of each circle and
then subtract the area of
catastrophic damage
from the area of
unpleasant damage

Converting Shaking to Intensity

Once we know how much shaking an area will receive, we can convert this to intensity. The modified Mercalli
intensity scale (MMI) is the most commonly used intensity scale. One can correlate acceleration with
intensity, as was done by Trifunac and Brady (1975) and Wald et al. (1999 a, b) (see
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/pubs/regress/node3.html#SECTION00030000000000000000) for details.

On your graph, by hand,

color in horizontal
bands that show the
modified Mercalli scale.
Modified
Mercalli
Intensity
Mercalli
intensity is
represented
by Roman
Numerals in
order to
differentiate
them from
Magnitudes
and to show
that they are
only integers.

Acceleration (g)
I

.0017-.0005

II

.0017-.005

III

0.005-0.014

IV

0.014-0.039

0.039.-0.092

VI

0.092-0.18

VII

0.18-0.34

VIII

0.34-0.65

IX

0.65-1.24

X+

Above 1.24

You may need to change the scale

(horizontal and vertical) to complete
this successfully. If needed, make
multiple graphs with different scales.

Drawing the circles

In order to make your calculations more visual, you will next draw an
isoseismic map using the calculations you made on a map of the United
States. We will use the M8 and M6 earthquake information

Take a map and draw a circle with a radius of the MMI 4 limit for the magnitude 8.
Use a compass. You can have the center of the quake wherever you want.
You will need to scale the circle using the scale that is marked on the map!
Draw in the boundaries of each of the other Mercalli intensities and color in each of
the concentric circles. In the end, you will have a series of concentric circles
representing the Mercalli intensities for that magnitude quake.

600 kilometers

Map from the National Atlas http://nationalatlas.gov

End of Module Assignments

1. Print out your three graphs of shaking (acceleration) vs.

distance, with appropriate labels for each of the earthquake
magnitudes. (Refer to slides 7-8)
2. On each graph, color and label the shaking (acceleration) that
is equivalent to each MMI level. These will be horizontal
regions across your graph. (See slide 11)
3. What are the areas (in km2) that receive catastrophic (MMI X or
above), (Severe MMI IX and MMI VIII), moderate (MMI VI MMI
VII), and light (MMI IV-VI) damage for a M6, M7, M8, and a M9
quake. Turn in as a table.
4. In a M8 earthquake, compare the probability of you being in a
MMI VI region vs. a MMI IX region. Which should you be more
worried about?
5. How many times worse is a M8 than a M6 earthquake? What
did you use to determine what was worse? Note that there is
no single correct answer.

Pre-test assignment

1. From the graph, what is the

recurrence interval of a flood with
discharge of 30,000 ft3/s?
2. From the graph, what is the
discharge of a flood with a 3 year
recurrence interval?
3. What is the area of a circle with
radius 3 meters?
4. If you are 10 km from the epicenter
of a magnitude 7 earthquake, what
acceleration (A) do you feel?
The relationship between magnitude and shaking (acceleration) is

a =1300*(e0.67*M)*(D+25) -1.6
where a is acceleration (in units of cm/sec2) , M is magnitude, and D is distance (in
km) (from Donovan, 1973).

5. What is IX-VI ?

Cited References

Donovan, N.C., (1973). A statistical evaluation of strong motion data including the Feb. 9,1971, San Fernando
earthquake. Proc., 5WCEE, Rome, Italy, 1: 1252-1261.

Trifunac, M. D., and A. G. Brady (1975). On the correlation of seismic intensity scales with the peaks of
recorded ground motion, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 65, 139-162

Wald, D. J., T. Heaton, H. Kanamori, P. Maechling, and V. Quitoriano (1999a). Research and Development of
TriNet "Shake" Maps, Earthquake Spectra, 15.

Wald, D.J., V. Quitoriano, T.H. Heaton, and H. Kanamori (1999b). Relationships between peak ground
acceleration, peak ground velocity, and modified Mercalli intensity in California, Earthq. Spectra 15, 557-564.