Earthquakes

Earthquakes
• The Vibration or shaking of earths crust by
rapid movement of rocks in the
lithosphere.
– Occur mostly along faults
– Frequently near areas where plates meet
– Caused by sudden release of energy
– Release of energy sends out seismic waves
which cause the ground to shake
 EARTHQUAKES AND FAULTS
• An earthquake is caused by the sudden release
of energy stored in rocks along a fault

• A fault is a crack in a mass of rock along which

there has been movement of rock layers on
either side of the crack
 NORMAL FAULT

REVERSE FAULT

TRANSFORM
FAULT
 TRANSFORM FAULT
SAN ANDREAS FAULT

FREQUENT
EARTHQUAKES
 NORTH SAN ANDREAS
FAULT
PACIFIC PLATE
WEST SIDE
MOVES NORTH
WEST EAST

NORTH
AMERICAN
PLATE
EAST SIDE
MOVES SOUTH

SOUTH
 Richter Scale
• Measure of Magnitude of Earthquake on a scale
of 1-10

2.0 mag  3.0 mag  4.0 mag  5.0 mag

(30 x’s stronger (900 x’s (27,000 x’s

than 2.0) stronger than stronger than

2.0) 2.0)

6.3 magnitude = 1 megaton nuclear bomb (50 x’s

Hiroshima)
 Facts!
• Over 25,000 recorded each year
• Only about 1-2 severe ones per year.
• About 10,000 people killed per year.
 United States
• New York City
– 1871 there was a moderate earthquake
– 1884 magnitude 5
• San Francisco 1906
– 700 died, magnitude 7.6
• 1989 World Series (S.F.)
– 54 died
– 7.1 Magnitude
– San Francisco Earth Quakes
Libson, Portugal, 1755, Nov. 1 st

• 55,000 died
• 8.6 magnitude
• 3 shocks, first one lasted 6-7 minutes
• Tremors felt in Sweden (2000 mile away)
– That’s like a California quake being felt in New
York
 China
• 1949-1976, 37 year period, 27 million
people killed
• In 1966 two earthquakes
– March 6 – 6.8 magnitude
– March 22 – 7.2 magnitude
 Products of Earthquakes
1. Collapsed buildings and fires
 Products of Earthquakes
2. Tsunami (Japanese for harbor wave)
– Largest in Lituya Bay, Alaska, 1958, 1600 ft
high
– 35,000 died in Indonesia from Krakatau 1883
– Need a magnitude of 6.5 or greater for a
significant tsunami
– 1300 ft wave evidence in Australia triggered
by a Hawaiian slide
 Products of Earthquakes
3. Volcanic Eruptions
– Pompeii (79 AD)
 Earthquake Safety
• Get Outdoors
• Store emergency supplies
– Water, flashlight, radio, food, medicines
• Build earthquake proof buildings
• Have an evacuation plan/know emergency
shelter locations
• Click here to see some earthquake videos
• More Earthquake videos
 Seismograph
• Detects and records seismic waves
– Minimum of three (3) seismographs are
needed to locate an epicenter.
– Seismogram: Seismograph machine print out
One station can determine A radius
as to how far away the epicenter
was.
With two stations, there are two
possibilities where the epicenter
could be
Three stations will give you the one
place the epicenter could be
Seismic waves
 Earthquake Location
• Focus: where the earthquake actually
originated underground

• Epicenter: Location on the surface of the

earth that is directly above the focus.
 SEISMIC WAVES
• When earthquakes occur, waves of
energy SEISMIC WAVES travel outward
from the earthquake focus

• 3 types of seismic waves are produced

AT THE SAME TIME but each behaves
differently within earth.
 1. P WAVES
• Primary waves or compression waves
vibrate parallel to the direction of
movement. (slinky)
• Travel faster than any other wave (6-8
km./s)
• Travel through solids, liquids, and gases
 2. S Waves
• S waves: Secondary waves, Shear waves
– Like a shaking rope
– Slower than P waves (4-5 km/s)
– Can NOT go through liquids
EARTH’S
INTERIOR
ANALYSIS OF
SEISMIC WAVES
HAVE
RESULTED IN
THE INFERENCE
ABOUT EARTH’S
INTERIOR

S WAVES
CANNOT PASS
THROUGH THE
LIQUID OUTER
CORE
3. SURFACE OR LONG WAVES

• Vibrations travel along earth’s surface in a

circular motion at relatively slow speeds (2
km/s) like waves in a pond

Do more
damage
because they
produce
more ground
movement
 VELOCITY OF SEISMIC
WAVES
• Velocity depends on the material they are
passing through
a. Increase density and pressure – greater the velocity
b. Waves are refracted or bent as waves pass through
materials with different densities
 P & S Waves
• Shadow zones exist
on earth because
S-waves cannot go
through liquid core.
 Calculating the distance to the
epicenter
• The greater the difference between the
arrival of P & S waves, the greater the
distance to the epicenter (the farther away
the earthquake is).
– Ex. Lightening and Thunder
• Flash and then a boom
 Which is closer, which is farther?

• Seismograph 1 has a time difference of 1

min and 30 sec
• Seismograph 2 has a time difference of 55
sec.
 P WAVES TRAVEL FASTER THAN S WAVES

AS DISTANCE FROM EPICENTER INCREASES -THE

GREATER THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN P AND S
 Questions
1. How far does a P wave travel in 4 min?
2. How long does it take an S wave to travel 5200
km?
3. If the difference in arrival time between P and
S waves is 2 min, how far away is the
epicenter?
4. If the arrival time difference is 5 min 40 sec,
how far away is the epicenter
5. If the distance to the epicenter is 5000km,
what would be the difference in arrival time?