Earthquake

Introduction

earthquake, trembling or shaking movement of the earth's surface. Most earthquakes are minor tremors. Larger earthquakes usually begin with slight tremors but rapidly take the form of one or more violent shocks, and end invibrations of gradually diminishing force called aftershocks. The subterranean point oforigin of an earthquake is called its focus; the point on the surface directly above the focus is the epicenter. The magnitude and intensity of earthquake is determined by the use of scales, e.g., the moment magnitude scale, Richter scale,and the modified Mercalliscale.

Earthquake
Causes of Earthquakes

Most earthquakes are causally related to compressional ortensional stresses built up at the margins of the huge moving lithospheric plates that make up the earth's surface . The immediate cause of most shallow earthquakes is the sudden release of stress along a fault, or fracture in the earth's crust, resulting in movement of the opposing blocks of rock past one another. These movements cause vibrations to pass through and around the earth in wave form, just as ripples are generated when a pebble is dropped into water. Volcanic eruptions, rockfalls, landslides, and explosions can also cause a quake, but most of these are of only local extent. Shock waves from a powerful earthquake can trigger smaller earthquakes in a distant location hundreds of miles away if the geologic conditions are favorable.

Seismic Waves There are several types of earthquake waves including P,or primary, waves, which are compressional and travel fastest; and S, or secondary, waves, which are transverse,i.e., they cause the earth to vibrate perpendicularly to the direction of their motion. Surface waves consist of several major types and are called L, or long, waves. Since the velocities of the P and S waves are affected by changes in the density and rigidity of the material through which they pass, the boundaries between the regions of the earth known as the crust, mantle, and core have been discerned by seismologists, scientists who deal with the analysis and interpretation of earthquake waves. Seismographs are used to record P, S, and L waves. The disappearance of S waves below depths of1,800 mi (2,900 km) indicates that at least the outer part of the earth's core is liquid.

Damage Caused by Earthquakes

The effects of an earthquake are strongest in a broad zone surrounding the epicenter. Surface ground cracking associated with faults that reach the surface often occurs, with horizontal and vertical displacements of several yards

common. Such movement does not have to occur during a major earthquake slight periodic movements called fault creep can be accompanied by microearthquakes too small to be felt. The extent of earthquake vibration and subsequent damage to a region is partly dependent on characteristics of the ground. For example, earthquake vibrations last longer and are of greater wave amplitudes in unconsolidated surface material, such as poorly compacted fill or river deposits; bedrock areas receive fewer effects. The worst damage occurs in densely populated urban areas where structures are not built to withstand intense shaking. There, L waves can produce destructive vibrations in buildings and break water and gas lines, starting uncontrollable fires.Damage and loss of life sustained during an earthquake result from falling structures and flying glass and objects. Flexible structures built on bedrock are generally more resistant to earthquake damage than rigid structures built on loose soil. In certain areas, an earthquake can trigger mudslides, which slip down mountain slopes and can bury habitations below. A submarine earthquake can cause a tsunami, a series of damaging waves that ripple outward from the earthquake epicenter and inundate coastal cities.

Major Earthquakes
On average about 1,000 earthquakes with intensities of\5.0 or greater are recorded each year. Great earthquakes (magnitude 8.0 or higher) occur once a year, major earthquakes (magnitude 7.07.9) occur 18 times a year, strong earthquakes (magnitude 6.06.9) 10 times a month, and moderate earthquakes (magnitude 5.05.9) more than twice a day. Because most of these occur under the ocean or in underpopulated areas, they pass unnoticed by all but seismologists. Moderate to strong earthquakes can cause more significant destruction if they occur closer to the earth's surface. Notable earthquakes have occurred at Lisbon, Portugal (1755); New Madrid, Mo. (1811 and 1812); Charleston, S.C. (1886); Assam, India (1897 and 1950); San

Francisco (1906); Messina, Italy (1908); Gansu, China (1920); Tokyo, Japan (1923); Chile (1960); Iran (1962); S Alaska (1964); Managua, Nicaragua (1972); Guatemala (1976); Hebei, China (1976); Mexico (1985); Armenia (1988); Luzon, Philippines (1990); N Japan (1993); Kobe, Japan (1995); Izmit, Turkey (1999); central Taiwan (1999); Oaxaca state, Mexico (1999); Bam, Iran (2003); NW Sumatra, Indonesia (2004); Sichuan, China (2008); S Haiti (2010); Chile (2010); South Island, New Zealand (2010, 2011); and NE Japan (2011). The Lisbon, Chilean, Alaskan, Sumatran, and NE Japan earthquakes were accompanied by significant tsunami sTwelve of the twenty largest earthquakes in the United States have occurred in Alaska. Most of the largest in the continental United States have occurred in California or elsewhere along the Pacific Coast, but the three New Madrid earthquakes (181112)

also were among the largest continental events, as was the Charleston, S.C. earthquake (1886). On Good Friday 1964, one of the most severe North American earthquakes ever recorded struck near Anchorage, Alaska, measuring 8.4 to 8.6 in magnitude. Besides elevating some 70,000 sq mi (181,300 sq km) of land and devastating several cities, it generated a tsunami that caused damage as far south as California. Other recent earthquakes that have affected the United States include the Feb., 1971, movement of theSan Fernando fault near Los Angeles. It rocked the area for 10 sec, thrust parts of mountains 8 ft (2.4 m) upward.

What Is Seismology?
Seismology is the study of earthquakes and seismic waves that move through and around the earth. A seismologist is a scientist who studies earthquakes and seismic waves.

What Are Seismic Waves?

Seismic waves are the waves of energy caused by the sudden breaking of rock within the earth or an explosion. They are the energy that travels through the earth and is recorded on seismographs.

Types of Seismic Waves

There are several different kinds of seismic waves, and they all move in different ways. The two main types of waves arebody waves and surface waves. Body waves can travel through the earth's inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water. Earthquakes radiate seismic energy as both body and surface waves. BODY WAVES Traveling through the interior of the earth, body waves arrive before the surface waves emitted by an earthquake. These waves are of a higher frequency than surface waves.

P WAVES The first kind of body wave is the P wave or primary wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave, and, consequently, the first to 'arrive' at a seismic station. The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth. It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through just like sound waves push and pull the air. Have you ever heard a big clap of thunder and heard the windows rattle at the same time? The windows rattle because the sound waves were pushing and pulling on the window glass much like P waves push and pull on rock. Sometimes animals can hear the P waves of an earthquake. Dogs, for instance, commonly begin barking hysterically just before an earthquake 'hits' (or more specifically, before the surface waves arrive). Usually people can only feel the bump and rattle of these waves. P waves are also known as compressional waves, because of the pushing and pulling they do. Subjected to a P wave, particles move in the same direction that the the wave is moving in, which is the direction that the energy is traveling in, and is sometimes called the 'direction of wave propagation'. to see a P wave.

FIGURE 1 - A P WAVE TRAVELS THROUGH A MEDIUM BY MEANS OF COMPRESSION AND DILATION. PARTICLES ARE REPRESENTED BY CUBES IN THIS MODEL. IMAGE 2000-2006

S WAVES
The second type of body wave is the S wave or secondary wave, which is the second wave you feel in an earthquake. An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock, not through any liquid medium. It is this property of S waves that led seismologists to conclude that the Earth's outer core is a liquid. S waves move rock particles up and down, or side-to-side--perpindicular to the direction that the wave is traveling in (the direction of wave propagation).

FIGURE 2 - AN S WAVE TRAVELS THROUGH A MEDIUM. PARTICLES ARE REPRESENTED BY CUBES IN THIS MODEL. I

SURFACE WAVES
Travelling only through the crust, surface waves are of a lower frequency than body waves, and are easily distinguished on a seismogram as a result. Though they arrive after body waves, it is surface waves that are almost enitrely responsible for the damage and destruction associated with earthquakes. This damage and the strength of the surface waves are reduced in deeper earthquakes.

LOVE WAVES
The first kind of surface wave is called a Love wave, named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who worked out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911. It's the fastest surface wave and moves the ground from side-to-side. Confined to the surface of the crust, Love waves produce entirely horizontal motion.

FIGURE 3 - A LOVE WAVE TRAVELS THROUGH A MEDIUM. PARTICLES ARE REPRESENTED BY CUBES IN THIS MODEL. IMAGE 2000-2006 LAWRENCE BRAILE, USED WITH PERMISSION.

RAYLEIGH WAVES
The other kind of surface wave is the Rayleigh wave, named for John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, who mathematically predicted the existence of this kind of wave in 1885. A Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground just like a wave rolls across a lake or an ocean. Because

it rolls, it moves the ground up and down, and side-toside in the same direction that the wave is moving. Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the Rayleigh wave, which can be much larger than the other waves.

FIGURE 4 - A RAYLEIGH WAVE TRAVELS THROUGH A MEDIUM. PARTICLES ARE REPRESENTED BY CUBES IN THIS MODEL. IMAGE 2000-2006 LAWRENCE BRAILE, USED WITH PERMISS