CHAPTER 2: SEISMOLOGY & EARTHQUAKES

In this section you will learn: Internal Structure of the Earth Seismic Waves Magnitude and Intensity of Earthquakes Plate Tectonics Theory Where do earthquakes occur? Faults
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SEISMOLOGY AND EARTHQUAKES

Seismology: (from Greek , seismos, "earthquake"; and -, -logia, as a whole "Talking about earthquakes") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic, atmospheric, and artificial processes (such as explosions).

INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

The earth is roughly spherical with a diamater of 12740 km at the equator (12700 km at the pole). It weighs about 5.4 x 1021 tons which indicates average specific gravity of about 5.5.
Do you remember the specific gravity of soils? The specific gravity of surface rocks is known to be around 2.7-3.0. That means the higher specific gravities are implied at greater depths... One of the most important achievements in seismology was the determination of the internal structure of the earth.

SEISMOLOGY AND EARTHQUAKES

Engineering Seismology is concerned with the solution of engineering problems connected with the Earthquakes. Seismology is extremely important because:

Study of earthquakes gives us important clues about the earths interior

AND

Understanding earthquakes allows us to minimize the damage and loss of life.

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INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

The crust, on which we live, is the outer most layer of the earth. The thickness of the crust is between 25-40 km, which is very small compared to the earth diameter. Since it is exposed to the atmosphere or to the oceans, the crust is cooler than the materials below it. The mantle is about 2850 km thick and can be divided into upper and lower mantle. The mantle is cooler near the crust than at greater depths but still has an average temperature of 4000 F. As a result the mantle materials are in a viscous, semi-molten state. They behave as solids when subjected to rapidly applied stress like earthquakes, but can slowly flow like a fluid in response to long term stresses. Keep in mind that no earthquakes has been recorded in the lower mantle. 5

INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

The outer core is around 2260 km thick and also known as the liquid core.

The outer core consist primarily of molten iron and is very dense (high specific gravity between 9-12).
The inner core or solid core is a very dense, solid nickel-iron material compressed under tremendous pressures. The temperature of the inner core is estimated to be relatively uniform at over 5000 F. But how do we know all this?
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INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

If we wish to look into the Earths interior, the most accurate method is to measure the elastic earth waves passing through the globe or reflected or refracted back to the surface. Large earthquakes produce enough energy to cause measurable 7 shaking points all around the world. Seismograms provide detailed knowledge of the earths deep interior.

SEISMOLOGY AND EARTHQUAKES

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.

WHAT CAUSES AN EARTHQUAKE?

Movement of Tectonic Plates

Earth is divided into sections called Tectonic plates that float on the fluid-like interior of the Earth. Earthquakes are usually caused by sudden movement of earth plates.

Rupture of rocks along a fault

Faults are localized areas of weakness in the surface of the Earth, sometimes the plate boundary itself.
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WHERE DO EARTHQUAKE OCCUR?

PLATE BOUNDARIES
FAULTS

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RELEASE OF ACCUMULATED ENERGY

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SEISMIC WAVES
Seismic waves are propagating vibrations that carry energy from the source of the shaking outward in all directions. You can picture this concept by recalling the circular waves that spread over the surface of a pond when a stone is thrown into the water. An earthquake is a more complicated process than a stone splashing into water, and the seismic waves that are set up during an earthquake are more varied than those on the pond.

When an earthquake occurs, different types of seismic waves are produced: body waves and surface waves.
Body waves, which can travel through the interior of the earth are of two types: P-waves and S-waves.
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SEISMIC WAVES P-WAVE - VP

The faster of these body waves is called Primary or Pwave. Its motion is the same as a sound wave, as it spreads out, it alternatively pushes (compress) and pulls (dilate) the rock. These p-waves are able to travel through both solid rock and liquid material.

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SEISMIC WAVES S-WAVE - VS

The slower wave through the body of rock is called secondary or s-wave. As the s-wave travels, it shears the rock sideways at right angles to the direction of travel. Therefore, s-waves can not propagate in the liquid parts of the earth, such as the oceans.

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LOCATING EARTHQUAKES
Seismologists locate earthquakes by measuring the time between the P and S waves in a seismogram. After a seismogram "feels" an earthquake, scientists compare the time difference of these waves to figure out how far away the earthquake is. It takes at least three seismograms to locate exactly where the earthquake is. One seismograph can only tell how far away it is from that seismograph. The earthquake could be located anywhere on a circle of radius equal to this distance and centered on the observation station. By measuring the S-P times at 3 or more stations these circles can be drawn around each station and where they meet indicates the earthquake location.
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SEISMIC WAVES SURFACE WAVES

The third general type of earthquake wave is called a surface wave because its motion is restricted to near the ground surface. These waves result from the interaction between the body waves and the surface of the earth. They are named after two English mathematicians who first described them, Love wave and Rayleigh wave.
Love wave motion is essentially the same as a S-waves that have no vertical displacement; it moves the ground from side to side in a horizontal plane, at right angles to the direction of the propagation. The horizontal shaking of Love waves is particularly damaging to the foundations of structures. Rayleigh waves are like rolling ocean waves, they move both vertically and horizontally in a vertical plane in the direction of travelling.
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BASIC EARTHQUAKE TERMS:

To describe the location and size of an earthquake it is necessary to use the correct terminology.
Earthquakes result from the rupture of the rock along a fault. The point at which rupture begins and the first seismic waves originate is called the focus or the hypocenter of the earthquake.

Although the fault rupture can extend to the ground surface, the focus is located at some focal depth below the ground surface.
The point on the ground surface directly above the focus is called the 17 epicenter.

MEASURING EARTHQUAKES

Intensity of Earthquake

Mercalli Scale Modified Mercalli Scale

Magnitude of Earthquake

Richter (Local), ML Body Wave Magnitude, Mb Surface Wave Magnitude, MS Moment Magnitude, Mw
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MODIFIED MERCALLI INTENSITY

The size of an earthquake has been described in many different ways. Before the development of modern instruments, methods for characterizing the size of earthquakes were based on qualitative descriptions. The oldest measure of the earthquake size is the earthquake intensity. Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) is the best known intensity scale around the world for years.
Recently, United States Geological Survey (USGS) introduced a website called Did you feel it? to gather information about the earthquakes from the people who actually experience them. Many people in US log on to the site after an earthquake and tell what they felt using the MMI scale. Shake Maps are prepared using this information. 19

MERCALLI INTENSITY SCALE

I. II.

III.
IV.

V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII.

Hardly felt Felt only by a few persons at rest, especially on upper floors of buildings. Can be felt by persons indoors, especially on upper floors of buildings. Many people do not recognize it as an earthquake. Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few during the day. At night, some awakened. Dishes, windows, doors disturbed. Standing motor cars rocked noticeably. Felt by nearly everyone; many awakened. Some dishes, windows broken. Unstable objects overturned. Felt by all Considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures. Damage slight in specially designed structures. Damage great in poorly built structures. Heavy furniture overturned. Damage considerable in specially designed structures. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse. Buildings shifted off foundations. Many objects destroyed, buildings collapse. Few structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Rails bent greatly. Total Damage.

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LIMITATIONS OF EARTHQUAKE INTENSITY MEASURES

Although important and a successful approach to the early study of earthquake size, intensity has problems when we expand our study to earthquakes that are not located near reference structures or earthquakes that occur deep beneath Earth's surface. Since intensity decreases with distance from the earthquake, a large deep earthquake, which solely because of its depth is far from Earth's surface, produces small shaking intensity. Thus we cannot use intensity to accurately compare the relative size of shallow and deep earthquakes. Another problem associated with intensity scales is it's dependence on building shape, construction, foundation type. Building practices and materials vary from place to place and thus tying a measure of earthquake size to buildings has some drawbacks if you want to compare earthquakes in different localities. And finally, the intensity of shaking depends on the regional and near-surface geologic conditions.

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MAGNITUDE SCALES

Richter (Local), ML
Body Wave Magnitude, Mb Surface Wave Magnitude, MS Moment Magnitude, Mw

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RICHTER MAGNITUDE SCALE

Modern seismic instruments allow an objective and quantitative measurement of earthquake size called earthquake magnitude.
The Richter magnitude scale was originally developed by Charles Richter and Beno Gutenberg to make more quantitative measures of the relative sizes of earthquakes in southern California. Today, modified versions of the scale are used to measure earthquakes throughout the world.
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RICHTER MAGNITUDE SCALE

Richter magnitude of an earthquake can be determined graphically using a seismograph record from a standard instrument. First, measure the height (amplitude) of the largest wave on the seismogram (21 mm) and then the distance to the focus using the time interval between the S and P waves (26 seconds). Next, draw a line between the distance scale (left) and the wave amplitude scale (right).

By doing this, you should obtain the Richter magnitude (ML) of 5.

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RICHTER MAGNITUDE SCALE

ML = logA + 2.56logD - 1.67 A: Amplitude of ground motion (micrometers) D: Distance from the event (km)
This is still used for measuring the magnitude of shallow events at distances less than 600 km (today called the Local Magnitude). For events larger than magnitude 8 this scale saturates and gives magnitude estimates that are too small.

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RICHTER MAGNITUDE SCALE

Earthquakes vary enormously in strength, and great earthquakes produce wave amplitudes that are thousands of times larger than those generated by weak tremors. To accommodate this wide variation, Richter used a logarithmic scale to express magnitude, in which a tenfold increase in wave amplitude corresponded to an increase of 1 on the magnitude scale. Thus, the amount of ground shaking for a 5-magnitude earthquake is 10 times greater than that produced by an earthquake having a Richter magnitude of 4. In addition, each unit of Richter magnitude equates to roughly a 32-fold energy increase. Thus, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 releases 32 times more energy than one with a magnitude of 5, and roughly 1000 (32x32=1024) times more energy than a 4-magnitude quake .

M5 M6

M7
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RICHTER MAGNITUDE SCALE

0-4.3 People at rest upstairs notice shaking. Shaking felt indoors; hanging objects swing. 4.3-4.8 Sleeping people are awakened. Dishes, doors and trees shake and rock. 4.8-6.2 Difficult to stand; people walk unsteadily. Windows break; plaster, bricks, and tiles fall. 6.2-7.3 General panic. Damage to foundations; buildings destroyed. Water thrown out of river. 7.3-8.9 Total destruction; roads break up, rocks fall. Large cracks appear in ground.
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MERCALLI VS. RICHTER SCALE

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BODY WAVE MAGNITUDE

Mb = log(A/T) + (D,h) A : Amplitude (micrometers) T : period (generally 1 sec) : Calibration term (6 8) f(Distance, Depth)

For earthquakes measured at distances greater than 600 km magnitude can be estimated from the formula.
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SURFACE WAVE MAGNITUDE

MS = log(A/T) + 1.66log + 3.3 A : Maximum Amplitude of Rayleigh waves (micrometers) T :Period (usually about 20 seconds) :Distance (in degrees)

For shallow earthquakes (i.e. ones that generate surface waves) magnitudes can be estimated using the formula.
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MOMENT MAGNITUDE
However, despite its usefulness, Richter magnitude scale is not adequate for describing very large earthquakes.
For example, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Alaskan earthquake had roughly the same Richter magnitudes. However, based on the size of the fault zone and the amount of displacement observed, the Alaskan earthquake released considerably more energy than the San Francisco quake. Thus, the Richter scale (as well as the other related magnitude scales) are said to be saturated for large earthquakes because they cannot distinguish among such events. For these larger events, seismologists use a slightly different measure of the earthquake size called the moment magnitude. The moment magnitude is directly related to the size of the earthquake rupture area or fault plane, and does not saturate for large events. For smaller events the Richter and moment magnitudes are similar.

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MOMENT MAGNITUDE
Seismic moment (Mo) = * rupture area * slip length : Shear modulus of the crust (~3x1010 N/m) Moment magnitude (Mw) = 2/3log(Mo) - 6.06

Large earthquakes Richter magnitudes underestimate the size of large events and are no longer used. However the constants used in the definition of Moment magnitude (Mw) were chosen so that the magnitude numbers for Richter and Moment magnitudes match for smaller events.

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CONTINENTAL DRIFT
The observations of similarity between the coastlines and geology of eastern South America and western Africa and the southern part of India and northern part of Australia had fascinated scientist since 17th century. But the theory known as continental drift was not proposed until early 20th century.

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CONTINENTAL DRIFT:
Wegener (1915) proposed that the earth had only one large continent called Pangea 200 millions years ago. He believed that the Pangea broke into pieces and slowly drifted into the present configuration of the continents. The original theory of continental drift suggested images of massive continents pushing through the seas and across the ocean floor. However, the ocean floor is too strong to permit such motion so the theory was originally discredited by most earth scientist.

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PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

From this background the modern theory of plate tectonics began to evolve...

The basic hypothesis of plate tectonics is that the earths surface consists of a number of large intact blocks called plates and these plates move with respect to each other.
6 continental sized plates: African American Antartic Australia-Indian Eurasian Pacific 14 subcontinental plates
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PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

The relative deformation between plates occurs only in narrow zones near their boundaries. This deformation of plates can occur slowly and continiously (aseismic deformation) or can occur periodically in form of earthquakes (seismic deformation).
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RING OF FIRE...
Since the deformation occurs predominantly at the boundaries between the plates, it would be expected that the locations of earthquakes would be concentrated near the plate boundaries. Map of earthquake epicenters support this theory.

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PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

Do you remember the Earths interior? The interior of the earth is in constant motion driven by the heat. The upper portion of the mantle is in contact with the relatively cool crust while the lower portion is in contact with the hot outer core. A temperature gradient exists. Eventually, the cooler and denser material begins to sink and the warmer, less dense material begins to rise. The sinking material gradually warms and becomes less dense, moves laterally and began to rise again. This process is called convection.
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PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

Lets summarize...

The Plate tectonics is a theory which describes the large scale motions of Earths lithosphere Crust+ upper portion of the mantle
The lithosphere is broken into large slabs that are referred to as tectonic plates. Convection currents in the mantle impose shear stresses on the bottom of the plates and drags them in various directions. Movement of the plates is due to a combination of three mechanisms : The convection currents simply carry the plates like a conveyor belt. The convection currents actually cause material from the mantle to rise up in to gaps between the plates, this pushes them apart. The lithosphere is pushed down into the mantle where two slabs collide, the descending slab effectively drags the slab behind. 39

PLATE BOUNDARIES...
These three different mechanisms create three different plate boundaries: o Divergent (Spreading ridge) Boundary
o Convergent (Subduction zone) Boundary o Transform Fault Boundary

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PLATE BOUNDARIES
Divergent (Tension)

Convergent (Compression)

Transform (Shearing)

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TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES

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DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES
Divergent Boundary In certain areas the plates move apart from each other. Molten rock from the underlying mantle rises to the surface where it cools and becomes a part of the spreading plates. In this way plates grow at spreading ridges.

Divergent boundaries are mostly in the oceanic areas

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DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARIES

Plates

move away from each other (tension) New lithosphere is formed Normal faults Causes volcanism Not very explosive

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CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES...
Convergent Boundary Since the size of the earth remains constant the creation of new material at spreading ridge must be balanced by the consumption of material at the other location. This occurs at the subduction boundaries where the relative movement of two plates is toward other. plate plate zone each

Subduction zone plate boundaries exists off the western coast of Mexico and Chile, south of Alaska and eastern coast of Japan.
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CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES

Plates move toward each other (compression) Lithosphere is consumed Reverse/thrust faults and folds Mountain building Explosive volcanism

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OCEAN- CONTINENT CONVERGENT

MARGIN
Ocean-continent plates collide Ocean plate subducts below continent Forms a subduction zone Earthquakes and volcanoes

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OCEAN-OCEAN CONVERGENT MARGIN

2 oceanic plates collide One plate dives (subducts) beneath other Forms subduction zone Earthquakes and volcanoes

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CONTINENT-CONTINENT CONVERGENT
MARGIN 2 continental plates collide Neither plate wants to subduct Collision zone forms high mountains Earthquakes, no volcanoes

example: Himalayas

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TRANSFORM PLATE MARGIN

Two plates slide past each other Strike slip faults. Lithosphere is neither consumed nor destroyed. Earthquakes, no volcanoes Responsible for most of the earthquakes

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WHAT DRIVES PLATE MOVEMENT?

Ultimately: heat transported from core and mantle to surface Heat transported by convection Core is ~5,000C and surface is ~0C Where mantle rises: rifting Where mantle dives: subduction zones

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TRANSFORM FAULT BOUNDARIES

When plates carrying continents move toward each other, continental collisions can lead to the formation of mountain ranges. Continental collision of plates carrying Africa and Europe are currently reducing the size of Mediterranian Sea.
Transform Fault Boundary Transform faults occur where plates move past each other without creating a new crust or consuming the old crust. North Anatolian Fault has been characterized as a transform fault between the Eurosian Plate and Anatolian Plate. (Similar to San Andreas Fault in California )
In reality the geometry of the transform faults is quite 52 complex. Their depth is typically limited but they can extend horizonally over very long distances. They are often divided into a number of fault segments.

FAULTS

A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers. Most faults produce repeated displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other. The fault surface can be horizontal or vertical or some arbitrary angle in between.

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FAULTS...
Faults may range in length from several meters to hundreds of kilometers and extend from the ground surface to dephs of several kilometers. Their presence may be obvious or they may be very difficult to detect. The presence of a fault does not necessarily mean that the earthquakes can be expected; the movement can occur aseismically or the fault may be inactive. The orientation of a fault plane is described by its strike and dip.

The strike of a fault is the horizontal line produced by the intersection of a fault plane and the horizontal plane.

The downward slope of the fault plane is described by the dip angle.
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FAULTS

The type of a fault is usually described by the type of the movement. The movement occuring on a fault is defined in the directions of strike and dip. The fault movement in the direction of dip is referred as dip slip movement. The fault movement parallel to the strike is called strike-slip movement.
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FAULTS

DIP-SLIP FAULTS Normal Fault Reverse Fault

STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
OBLIQUE-SLIP FAULT

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DIP-SLIP FAULTS
Normal Fault Reverse Fault

Extension

Compression

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STRIKE-SLIP FAULT

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STRIKE-SLIP FAULT

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OBLIQUE-SLIP FAULT

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FAULTS...

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TSUNAMI
The principal generation mechanism (or cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is usually attributed to either earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity. It is important to note that tides do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis. Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water.

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TSUNAMI

1) tectonic plate boundary before earthquake.

2) Overriding plate bulges under strain, causing tectonic uplift.

3) Plate slips, causing subsidence and releasing energy into water

4) The energy released produces tsunami waves.

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TSUNAMI

More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of movement involved. Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but the size of the largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami. Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometers long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300 millimetres (12 in) above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water.
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TSUNAMI
When the wave enters shallow water, it slows down and its amplitude (height) increases.

The wave further slows and amplifies as it hits land. Only the largest waves crest.

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