ELEMENTRY

SEISMOLOGY

Earthquake occurrence in the world

The outermost portion of Earth is

composed of a mosaic of thin rigid plates
pieces of lithosphere that move
horizontally with respect to one another.

Plates interact with each other along their

edges called plate boundaries.

Plate boundaries have a high degree of

tectonic activity mountain building,
earthquakes, active volcanoes.

Plate tectonics

Chemical compositi
Crust
Mantle
Core

Physical propertie
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
Outer core
Inner core

DIVERGENT

CONVERGENT

3 TYPES

TRANSFORM

A fault is nothing but a crack or weak zone

inside the Earth. When two blocks of rock
or two plates rub against each other along
a fault, they dont just slide smoothly.
As the tectonic forces continue to prevail,
the plate margins exhibit deformation as
seen in terms of bending, compression,
tension and friction. The rocks eventually
break giving rise to an earthquake,
because of building of stresses beyond the
limiting elastic strength of the rock.

Faults.

59% of land mass prone to earthquakes

40 million hectares (8%) of landmass prone to
floods
8000 Km long coastline with two cyclone seasons
Hilly regions vulnerable to
avalanches/landslides/Hailstorms/cloudburst
68% of the total area susceptible to drought
Different types of manmade Hazards
Tsunami threat
1 million houses damaged annually + human,
economic, social and other losses

Earthquake hazard map of india & states..

Zone V - very
high
Zone IV - high
Zone III
-moderate
Zone II - low

Fig. courtesy: nicee

Earthquake hazard map of india & states..

More than 60 %
area is
earthquake
prone.

Earthquake hazard map of india & states..

Causes

Defnition

An earthquake is the vibration

of Earth produced by the rapid
release of energy.
Energy radiates in all directions
from its source, the focus .
Energy moves like waves .
Earthquakes are caused by
sudden release of energy in
rocks.
Plates in the form of rocks
are moving very slowly and
earthquake occur when
moving plates grind and scrape
against each other.

prediction

Shaking of earth due to movement of

rocks along a fault.
Rocks under stress accumulate strain
energy over time.
When stress exceeds strength of
rocks, rock breaks.
Strain energy is released as seismic
waves. The longer that energy is
stored up and is maintained without
release, the more likely that a strong

earthquake will occur.

Anatomy of earthquake..

FOCUS the place within Earth where earthquake

waves originate
EPICENTER
Point on the surface, directly above the focus.
Located using the difference in the arrival times
between P and S wave recordings, which are
related to distance.
FOCUS
The distance between the focus and the epicenter is
called focal depth.
DEPTH OF FOCUS
Shallow focus Earthquakes-70 km deep
Intermediate focus earthquakes-70 - 300km
Deep focus earthquakes 300 km

The focus of an earthquake is the origin at

depth of that earthquake. The closest
place on the surface of the earth to the
focus is called the epicenter.

An epicenter is located by triangulating

between 3 or more seismograph stations,
using the arrival times of two or more of
the 3 types of earthquake waves.

Seismology can be defned in two ways:

1. The science of earthquakes and the
physics of the earths interior
2. The science of elastic wave (seismic
waves)

seismology

The term Seismology is derived from

Greek word Seismo, which means
earthquake and logos means
science; hence the Seismology is
Science of Earthquakes

Highest velocity Causes compression and expansion in direction of

wave travel.

Seismic waves

SEISMIC WAVES produced by the release of energy

move out in circles from the point of rupture
(focus)
Body Waves -travel through interior
Primary waves- P-waves

SECONDARY WAVES- S-WAVES

Slower than P waves but faster than surface waves.
Causes shearing of rock perpendicular to direction of wave propagation
Cannot travel through liquids

Seismic waves

 Surface Waves - travel on surface

of earth
Cause vertical & horizontal shaking.
Travel exclusively along surface of earth.
Rayleigh waves, also called ground roll, are surface
waves that are confned to the Earths surface
where they travel as ripples with motions that are
similar to those of waves on the surface of water.
The surface particles move in ellipses in planes
normal to the surface and parallel to the direction
of propagation. At the surface and at shallow
depths this motion is retrograde (unlike water
waves). Particles deeper in the material move in
smaller ellipses with an eccentricity that changes
with depth.

Seismic waves

Love waves
Rayleigh waves

Love waves are surface seismic

waves that cause horizontal
shifting of the earth during an
earthquake. The particle motion
of a Love wave forms a
horizontal line perpendicular to
the direction of propagation (i.e.
are transverse waves). The
amplitude, or maximum particle
motion, often decreases rapidly
with depth.

Measuring the size of earthquakes

TWO MEASUREMENTS DESCRIBE THE SIZE OF AN
EARTHQUAKE
INTENSITY A measure of earthquake shaking at a
given location based on amount of damage. Intensity
of an earthquake is a subjective parameter based on
assessment of visible effects. It depends on factors
other than the actual size of the earthquake.
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale was
developed using California buildings as its
standard
Drawback is that destruction may not be true
measure of earthquakes actual severity

 MAGNITUDE Estimates the amount of energy

released by the earthquake. The magnitude of an
earthquake is determined instrumentally and is more
objective measure of its size.
Richter magnitude - concept introduced by
Charles Richter in 1935
Richter scale
Based on amplitude of largest seismic wave
recorded
LOG10 SCALE
Each unit of Richter magnitude corresponds
to 10X increase in wave amplitude and 32X
increase in Energy.
Moment magnitude was developed because
Richter magnitude does not closely estimate
the size of vey large earthquakes.
Derived from the amount of displacement that
occurs along a fault and the area of the fault
that slips

Charcteristic of strong ground motion

Ground motion at a particular site due to earthquake is influenced by source, trvel

path and local site condition. The frst relates to the size and source mechanism of
the earthquake. The second describes the path effect of the earth as waves travel at
some depth from the source to the site. The third describes the effect of the upper
hundreds of meters of rock and soil and the surface topography at the site.strong
shaking cause severe damages to man-made facilities and unfortunately, some
times, induce losses of human lives. Studies of the characteristics of observed
accelerograms from earthquake events upgrade ine,s capability in seismic hazard
mitigation.
Wave type involed in strong ground motion
horizontal ground motion is produced by s body waves and by the surface waves.

Factors that affect strong ground motion

Magnitude
Distance
Site
Fault type,depth and repeat time
Directivity and radiation pattern

A seismoLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS
The heavy mass doesnt move much
The drum moves

In reality, copper wire coils move around magnets, generating current which is recorded.

Amplitude of seismic waves (how

much rock moves or vibrates)

Distance to the epicenter

Earthquake direction

seismoscope
A seismoscope is a scientifc device that signals the occurrence of
an earthquake, possibly providing information about the timing and
size of the quake as well.
It should not be confused with a seismometer , a measuring
instrument, or the closely related seismograph , which generates a
record of the shaking. Geologists do not widely use seismoscopes,
because the range of data they can record is limited when
compared with more sophisticated equipment.
Over time, seismoscope technology became more sophisticated.
Inventors worked on devices capable of measuring the intensity of
earthquakes so they could collect better data, and they also
developed seismoscopes with timers to tell them when quakes
occurred. The development of the seismograph and seismometer
contributed even more useful information; early devices used a
simple pendulum attached to a stylus to record an earthquake in
full, allowing people to track the intensity of the shaking and look at
the pattern of movement inside the Earth's crust.

seismoscope

The seismoscope is useful primarily as an alert system to let people

know an earthquake happened. More modern scientifc equipment
provides information about the details and does not just signal to alert
people to the occurrence of a quake. By using a network of equipment
to measure seismic activity, researchers can pinpoint the epicenters of
earthquakes, track earthquake activity, and learn more about the
origins of quakes. These devices are also useful for activities like
issuing tsunami warnings.
It is possible to build a simple seismoscope at home, and directions can
be found in scientifc activity books as well as online. One problem with
this and other devices to measure earthquake activity is the degree of
sensitivity. The machine may issue a false alarm for a passing heavy
truck, or fail to detect a very distant quake because the Earth's motion
is so subtle. Researchers use tools like probes located underneath the
Earth to confrm that shaking is caused by an earthquake and to collect
data about the directionality of the movement.

An accelerograph can be referred to as a strong motion seismograph,

or simply as an earthquake accelerometer. They are usually constructed
as a self-contained box, more commonly now being connected directly to
the Internet.
Accelerographs are useful for when the earthquake ground motion is so
strong that it causes the more sensitive seismometers to go off-scale.
There is an entire science of strong ground motion, that is dedicated to
placing accelerographs in the vicinity of major faults. The type of
information gathered (such as rupture velocity) would not be possible
with the standard seismometers. The best known example is the
Parkfeld Experiment which involved a massive set of strong motion
instrumentation.[2]
They record peak ground acceleration (PGA), velocity (PGV), ground
displacement (PGD) and spectral intensity (SI).
Within the accelerograph, there is an arrangement of 3 accelerometer
sensing heads. These are usually micro-machined (MEMS) chips that are
sensitive to one direction. Thus constructed, the accelerometer can
measure full motion of the device in three dimensions.

accelerograph

Unlike the continually recording seismometer,

accelerometers nearly always work in a triggered mode.
That means a level of acceleration must be set which starts
the recording process. This makes maintenance much more
difficult without a direct Internet connection (or some other
means of communication). Many trips have been made to
accelerometers after a large earthquake, only to fnd that
the memory was flled with extraneous noise, or the
instrument was malfunctioning.
Accelerometers are used to monitor structures for
earthquake response. Sometimes, with the data, a response
spectrum is computed. Other analysis is used to improve
building design, or to help locate important structures in
safer areas.

accelerograph