Erik Blaser

8/2/10

Geology 100H

Σεισμός

The movement of earth in sudden bursts of motion causes wide spread effects,

most effects are felt by tremors in the earth’s crust which we call earth quakes. These

earthquakes have a momentum that is almost incomprehensible, if the state of

California (about 4.006 x 10^12 kilograms …. If my math is right) was a plate and it

moved at 10 mph for second to cause an earthquake it would be similar to a 1000

kilogram truck hitting you at 4.006 x 10^10 kilometers per hour (again if my math is

right). This amount of force isn’t even close to a big plate like the pacific or even the

Nazca plate, to survive a large quake or even a series of medium sized ones we’ve had

to specialize our methods of building and by lengthy study and observation we’ve

started to attempt the prediction of the earthquakes.

Too begin we’ll look at what causes an earthquake, an earthquake is a movment

in the crust which causes three types of energy waves to be released. These waves are

what cause the damage , they are grouped into P-waves, S-waves, and surface waves.

The waves are most dangerous when they arrive at the same time, which is when

you’re closest to the epicenter of the quake. Earthquakes occur on faults where two

land masses are sliding past each other or moving vertically in respect to each other .

The amount of earthquakes that are felt years are only one fifth or the total quakes, and

each time a quake occurs one land mass usually looses area and another gains it. The

dangers of earthquakes are not limited to the shaking itself but what happens after the
 Erik Blaser

8/2/10

Geology 100H

earthquake has stopped can also cause many million dollars of damage. Fires due to

breaking gas lines, soil liquefaction, floods due to breaking dams, and tsunamis are all

products of an earthquake, each one is deadly and they can occur in separate locations

or they can occur all together .

Recently the technology has become available to attempt a prediction as to when

an earthquake will hit and where. The Chinese were one of the first to observe the

characteristics of an earthquake, they used a vase with several openings in which they

carefully laid metal spheres when an earthquake hit a single ball would fall out and that

would show the direction in which the waves were traveling. Several other ways that are

not scientific have also been used such as the behavior of animals and phases of the

moon. People have tried to link earthquakes with multiple things to try and predict them.

These things are a shift in electro-magnetic fields, radon content in soil, and as well as

many others. The method that has been most successful has been using a variety of

sources including a pattern in the frequency and location of earthquakes, foreshocks,

and others. Even though these methods are not yet fool proof they are beginning to

gather enough information to successfully predict quakes.

Along with prediction we are trying to create structures that will not fall down

during an earthquake. These structures are not something new but they are becoming

more and more complex and sophisticated. The oldest ones date from the Incan

buildings, one of the best examples are the buildings at Machu Pichu. These buildings

are built from stone with ashlar masonry, which means they are not cemented together
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8/2/10

Geology 100H

instead the blocks are perfectly cut and fitted together. Using base isolation is not a new

method of earthquake engineering, the Persians created the Mausoleum of Cyrus using

base isolation, whether they knew it at the time or not this was the first example of base

isolation. Now the building that use base isolation are a little more modern and larger,

they include the city hall in Los Angeles as well as the Pasadena City Hall. Tuned mass

dampers and lead rubber bearing are both methods that control the vibration of the

building, the dampers are like large tuning rods that are made to vibrate at a different

frequency than the earthquake and the bearings damp the waves power and therefore

the building has to deal with less than the full force of the waves. Rollers are also a

method of earthquake proofing a building, in this method huge rollers counter-act the

force of the waves and the building just rolls back and forth with the waves instead of

swaying.