Introduction:

Earthquake engineering is the application of civil engineering to reduce life and economic losses
due to earthquakes.

Earthquake:
Shaking of the earth’s surface caused by sudden release of energy stored in the rocks beneath
earth’s surface is called an earthquake.

floor spreading.
 Figure 1.1

Continental drift:
The concept of continental drift was proposed by Alfred Wegener. Wegener suggested that the earth's
continents once, was a single super-continent landmass that he named Pangaea.
He suggested that Pangaea split apart into its constituent continents about 200 million years ago and
the continents drifted to their current positions.
Wegener’s principal observations were:
• Fit of the continents
• Match of mountain belts, rock types
• Distribution of fossils
Plate Tectonics:
The concept of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s. According to the theory, Earth has a
rigid outer layer, known as the lithosphere, which is typically about 100 km (60 miles) thick and
overlies a plastic layer called the asthenosphere. The lithosphere is broken up into seven very large
continental and ocean sized plates, six or seven medium-sized regional plates, and several small
ones. These plates move relative to each other, typically at rates of 5 to 10 cm per year, and interact
along their boundaries, where they converge, diverge, or slip past one another. Such interactions
are thought to be responsible for most of Earth’s seismic and volcanic activity. Plate motions cause
mountains to rise where plates push together, or converge, and continents to fracture and oceans
to form where plates pull apart, or diverge.
How plate tectonics works?
The driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in the mantle. Hot material near the Earth's
core rises, and colder mantle rock sinks. The convection drive plates tectonics through a
combination of pushing and spreading apart at mid-ocean ridges and pulling and sinking
downward at subduction zones. Scientists continue to study and debate the mechanisms that move
the plates.
A mid-ocean ridge is an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It consists of
various mountains linked in chains, typically having a valley known as a rift running along its
spine.
Plate boundaries are classified in to three types:

1. Divergent.
A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other which result in
creation of new ocean floor with submarine volcanoes, mid-oceanic ridge a small to
moderate earthquake.
2. Convergent:
When one plate is composed of oceanic lithosphere and the other is composed of
continental lithosphere, the denser oceanic plate is subducted resulting in creation and
growth of mountain range with volcanoes, subduction zones earth’s greatest earthquake
and tsunamis.
3. Transform:
Plates moves sideways past each other. It causes no creation or destruction of crust and
results small to large earthquake.