EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN

 Definition of Earthquake, Causes and origin, Elements

of Seismology
 Definitions of magnitude – Intensity, measurement of
magnitude & Intensity
 Tectonics plate theory Seismograph and Seismogram

Dr. K. Muthumani
VIT CC

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Earthquake

Sudden slip on a fault, and the resulting ground

shaking and radiated seismic energy caused by
the slip, or by volcanic or magmatic activity, or
other sudden stress changes in the earth.

•Shaking or trembling caused by the sudden release of

energy
•Usually associated with faulting or breaking of rocks
•Continuing adjustment of position results in aftershocks

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To see how earthquakes really occur, we first
need to learn about constitution of the Earth!
The Three Major Chemical Radial Divisions

 Crust
 Mantle
 Core

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 The Shallowest Layer
of the Earth: the Crust
 The crust is the most
heterogeneous layer in the
Earth
 The crust is on average 33 km
thick for continents and 10 km
thick beneath oceans; however
it varies from just a few km to
over 70 km globally.
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 The boundary between the
crust and the mantle is mostly
chemical. The crust and
mantle have different
compositions.
 This boundary is
referred to as the
Mohorovičić
discontinuity
or “Moho”.
 It was discovered in 1910 by
the Croatian seismologist
Andrija Mohorovičić.
Crustal thickness

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http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/research/structure/CrustalStructure/index.html
 Middle Earth: The Mantle
 Earth’s mantle exists from the
bottom of the crust to a depth of
2891 km (radius of 3480 km) –
Gutenberg discontinuity
 It is further subdivided into:
 The uppermost mantle
(crust to 400 km depth)
 The transition zone Beno Gutenberg
(400 – 700 km depth)
 The mid-mantle
(700 to ~2650 km depth)
 The lowermost mantle
(~2650 – 2891 km depth)
 The uppermost mantle is
composed dominantly of olivine;
lesser components include
pyroxene, enstatite, and garnet
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Earth’s Core
 Owing to the great pressure
inside the Earth the Earth’s
core is actually freezing as the
Earth gradually cools.
 The boundary between the
liquid outer core and the solid
inner core occurs at a radius of
about 1220 km – Lehman
discontinuity, after Inge
Lehman from Denmark.
 The boundary between the
mantle and outer core is sharp.
 The change in density across
the core-mantle boundary is
greater than that at the Earth’s
surface! UNIT 1
 The viscosity of the outer core
is similar to that of water, it
flows kilometers per year and
creates the Earth’s magnetic
field.
 The outer core is the most
homogeneous part of the Earth
 The outer core is mostly an
alloy of iron and nickel in liquid
form.
 As the core freezes latent heat
is released; this heat causes
the outer core to convect and
so generates a magnetic field.
 Mechanical
Layers:

1. Lithosphere
2. Asthenosphere
3. Mesosphere

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Litosphere
 The lithosphere is the
uppermost 50-100 km
of the Earth.

 There is not a strict boundary between the

lithosphere and the asthenosphere as there is
between the crust and mantle.

 It consists of both crust and upper parts of mantle.

 It behaves rigidly, like a solid, over very long time

periods.
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Astenosphere
 The asthenosphere exists between depths of 100-
200 km.
 It is the weakest part of the mantle.
 It is a solid over short time scales, but behaves like a
fluid over millions of years.
 The asthenosphere decouples the lithosphere
(tectonic plates) from the rest of the mantle.

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How earthquakes occur?

• Earthquakes occur at FAULTS.

• Fault is a weak zone separating two
geological blocks.
• Tectonic forces
cause the blocks
to move relative
one to another.
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Tectonic
plates
 Tectonic plates
are large parts of
litosphere
‘floating’ on the
astenosphere
 Convective currents move them around with velocities of
several cm/year.
 The plates interact with one another in three basic ways:
1. They collide
2. They move away from each other
3. They slide one past another
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 Interacting
plates
 Plates moving past each
other do so along the
TRANSFORM FAULTS.
 The earthquakes may be
very strong.

EXAMPLES: San Andreas Fault

(Pacific – North American plate)
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 Interacting plates
 Collision leads to
SUBDUCTION of one
plate under another.
Mountain ranges may
also be formed
(Himalayas, Alps...).
 It produces strong
and sometimes very
deep earthquakes (up
to 700 km).
EXAMPLES: Nazca – South America
 Volcanoes also occur
there. Eurasia – Pacific
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 Spreading ridge

subduction zone

transform fault plate

boundaries

Example
Cascadia subduction
zone
• Estimated slip in Indo-Asian collision zone along the Himalaya
• Urban populations south of the Himalaya (Bilham, et al Science, 2001)

CSIR-Structural Engineering Research

21
Centre
 Interacting plates
 Plates moving
away from each
other produce
RIDGES between
them (spreading
centres).
 The earthquakes
are generally
weaker than in the
case of subduction. EXAMPLES: Mid-Atlantic ridge (African
– South American plates, Euroasian –
North American plates)
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Three Types of Faults

Strike-Slip
Thrust

Normal
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Strike-slip Fault Example

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Strike-slip Fault Example

1906 San Francisco Earthquake

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Thrust Fault Example

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Thrust Fault Example

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Faults
-Possible locations where the movements
between two portions of the crust is likely to
occur
-Length - several meters to hundreds of
kilometers
-Orientation is described by strike and dip
Fault plane

Dip –angle between fault plane and horizontal

plane
Strike – horizontal line produced by fault
plane and horizontal plane
Dip slip movement-
Hanging wall (material above the fault)
Foot wall(material below the fault) Reverse
(compressional)
Normal fault (extensional); Reverse
(compressional)
Global Distribution of Earthquakes

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One year of seismicity

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Seismicity for last 100 years
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MAJOR TECTONIC PLATES EARTHQUAKE EPICENTRES

OCEAN-BOTTOM AGE
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Major tectonic plates

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Rupture on a Fault

Total Slip in the M7.3 Landers

Earthquake

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How earthquakes occur?
Elastic rebound theory

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How earthquakes occur?
Elastic rebound theory

• Because of friction, the blocks do not slide, but are deformed.

• When the stresses within rocks exceed friction, rupture occurs.
• Elastic energy, stored in the system, is released after rupture
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in waves that radiate outward from the fault.
Elastic Rebound theory
-during relative movement of
plates elastic strain energy is
stored near the boundary

Asperity model: Initially stress is

not uniform, foreshocks occur
thro weaker zones, followed by
main shock and the stress
becomes uniform after the main
shock

Barrier model : Initially stress is

uniform , main shock occurs
leaving behind barriers unbroken
later barriers break (aftershocks)
to adjust the non-uniformity of
stress
Seismic Gap: fault movement and
historical earthquake activity any
strain energy accumulation in
region can be identified
 Seismic
Waves in
the Earth

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Inner Structure of the Earth

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Seismic Waves

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 Primary or
“P” Wave

Secondary
or “S”
Wave

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EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• 3 types of seismic waves show up on seismogram

– P waves: shake earth in same direction as wave;

travel thru solid, liquid, gas
– S waves: Shake earth sideways to wave direction;
travel thru solids only
– Surface waves: circular movement of rock;
travel on surface – cause most damage!!

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EARTHQUAKE WAVES

P waves move through solids & liquids

S waves move through solids only!!!

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P-waves and S- waves
can reach the earth’s
surface between zero
degree and 103
degrees

Between 103 – 143

paths reflected from
inner core only can
reach the earth’s
surface

Between 143-180 –
only P waves can
reach the surface
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
Body P waves S waves
waves

AKA Primary (1st to arrive) Secondary (2nd to arrive - larger)

Longitudinal, Compression Transverse, Shear
Moves all states of matter
(solid, liquid, gas) Can go through solids only
through
Movement back and forth movement of rock Move sideways
of rock • push/pull or compression/stretch out • perpendicular to direction of wave
• Like slinky down stairs travel
• Like snake
Vibration is same as the direction of
travel

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EARTHQUAKE WAVES
Lets test your understanding!! P wave!

Is this a P or an S wave?

S Wave

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This map shows the predicted (theoretical) travel times, in minutes, of
the compressional (P) wave from the earthquake location to points
around the globe. The travel times are computed using the spherically-
symmetric IASP91 reference earth velocity model. The heavy black
lines shown are the approximate distances to the P-wave shadow zone
(103 to 140 degrees ) UNIT 1
 Vp>Vs>VR >VL

Surface waves result from the interaction between body waves and the
surface and surficial layers of the earth – At distances greater than twice
the thickness of the earth surface waves are more prominent and will
produce peak ground accelerations
Rayleigh waves (VR): produced out of the interaction of P waves and SV
waves – involves both vertical and horizontal particle motion, when
Poisson’s ratio =0.25;
VR=0.9194 Vs.
Love waves (VL): produced by the interaction of SH waves with a soft
surficial layer and have no vertical component of motion – can not travel
in liquid, depends on the shear wave velocity of the layer above and
below
-Surface waves are dispersive
– wave velocity depends on the wave frequency
-for higher frequency – wave velocity is higher
 Terminologies
Earthquake : Vibration of earth’s surface caused by waves coming from a
source of disturbance (tectonic, volcanic, landslide(rock fall), rock bursting
in mine, nuclear explosions)
Focus (Hypocenter): Point from which waves first emanate or where fault
movement starts
Shallow focus <70 km;
Intermediate focus 7o to 300 km;
deep >300km
Epicentral distance: distance between epicenter and recording station
Seismograph: Instrument which records earthquake as a function of time
Seismoscope: Instrument which records ground motion without time
Seismometer: seismograph consisting of pendulam, recording system and
chronograph
Seismogram: A record – time vs ground motion recorded by seismograph
Principle:
Types of Seismographs

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Seismogram Printout

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How is an Earthquake’s Epicenter Located?
Seismic wave behavior
– P waves arrive first, then S waves, then L and R
– Average speeds for all these waves is known
– After an earthquake, the difference in arrival times at a
seismograph station can be used to calculate the distance
from the seismograph to the epicenter.
Focus and Epicenter of Earthquake

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 Velocity is a vector, having both magnitude and
direction but in this case we are just concerned with the
magnitude.

VP = velocity of compressional wave G and E elastic constants

VS = velocity of shear wave
 = density of the material
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  
 
 tp  ts 
d  
  1 1 

 v 
v 
  s p  

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 Time-Travel Curve

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 Triangulation
of 3 stations
to locate
earthquake
epicenter

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 How is an Earthquake’s Epicenter Located?

• At least three seismograph

stations are needed to locate
the epicenter of an
earthquake

• A circle where the radius

equals the distance to the
epicenter (from P-S wave
separation) is drawn

• The intersection of the circles

locates the epicenter

• In practice, many
seismographs from a wide
area are used to locate
earthquake epicenters

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