EARTHQUAKE

HAZARD
WHAT IS AN EARTHQUAKE?
An earthquake is a shaking of the ground
caused by the sudden breaking and
movement of large sections (tectonic
plates) of the earth's rocky outermost
crust. The edges of the tectonic plates
are marked by faults (or fractures). Most
earthquakes occur along the fault lines
when the plates slide past each other or
collide against each other.
 Earthquake hazards include any
physical phenomenon associated
with an earthquake that may
produce adverse effects on
human activities. While they are
often used as synonyms, it is
useful to distinguish between
"hazards" and "risk.
Hazards- are the natural phenomena
that might impact a region, regardless
of whether there is anyone around to
experience them or not.

Risk -refers to what we stand to lose

when the hazard occurs; it is what we
have built that's threatened. Risk can
be usually be measured in dollars or
fatalities, Hazard is generally
measured in more physical units:
energy, shaking strength, depth of
water inundation, etc.
 POTENTIAL
EARTHQUAKE
HAZARD
1. GROUND SHAKING
Ground shaking is the most familiar
effect of earthquakes. It is a result of the
passage of seismic waves through the
ground, and ranges from quite gentle in
small earthquakes to incredibly violent
in large earthquakes.
Structures like buildings, bridges and
dams can be severley damaged, and
cliffs and sloping ground destabilised.
Perched or stacked objects may fall and
injure or bury anyone close by. In the
largest earthquakes whole districts can
be devastated by the multiple
consequences of ground shaking.
Groundshaking will vary over an
area due to such factors as
topography, bedrock type, and
the location and orientation of
the fault rupture. These all affect
the way the seismic waves travel
through the ground.
17 October 1989
Loma Prieta
earthquake
41 people were killed
in the collapse.
2. GROUND RUPTURE
Ground rupture is a visible breaking
and displacement of the Earth’s surface
along the trace of the fault.
Ground rupture is a major risk for
large engineering structures such as
dams, bridges and nuclear power
stations
3. Liquefaction
Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which
the strength and stiffness of a soil is
reduced by earthquake shaking or other
rapid loading. Liquefaction and related
phenomena have been responsible for
tremendous amounts of damage in
historical earthquakes around the world.
Groundwater, sand and soil combine during
seismic shaking to form liquefaction during a
moderate to powerful earthquake. A
quicksand like soil is the result of this process.
When liquefaction takes place under
buildings the foundations sink and the
building collapse. After the earthquake has
passed, the soil firms again and the water
settles deeper in the ground. Areas with sandy
soil and groundwater close to the surface are
far more at risk of liquefaction.
In the image above, some buildings
toppled when the soil underwent
liquefaction. Buildings can even sink into
the ground if soil liquefaction occurs.
4. Earthquake-induced Ground
Subsidence
Subsidence is the sinking or settling of
the ground surface. It can occur by a
number of methods. Ground subsidence
can result from the settlement of native
low density soils, or the caving in of
natural or man-made underground
voids.
Subsidence may occur gradually over
many years as sags or depressions form
on the ground surface. It’s more
infrequent, but subsidence can occur
abruptly-virtually instantly-as
dangerous ground openings that could
swallow any part of a structure that
happen to lie at that location, or leave a
dangerous steep-sided hole
This geodetic mark in Louisiana is anchored deep below the
ground and was level with the ground when it was
originally placed there, but now the ground around the
mark has subsided.
5. Tsunami
Tsunamis are giant waves caused by
earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under
the sea. Out in the depths of the ocean,
tsunami waves do not dramatically
increase in height. But as the waves
travel inland, they build up to higher and
higher heights as the depth of the ocean
decreases.
The speed of tsunami waves depends on
ocean depth rather than the distance
from the source of the wave. Tsunami
waves may travel as fast as jet planes
over deep waters, only slowing down
when reaching shallow waters. While
tsunamis are often referred to as tidal
waves, this name is discouraged by
oceanographers because tides have little
to do with these giant waves.
6. Earthquake-induced Landslide
A landslide is defined as the movement
of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down
a slope. Landslides are a type of "mass
wasting," which denotes any down-slope
movement of soil and rock under the
direct influence of gravity. The term
"landslide" encompasses five modes of
slope movement: falls, topples, slides,
spreads, and flows.