Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes

structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make
such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An earthquake (or seismic) engineer aims to
construct structures that will not be damaged in minor shaking and will avoid serious damage
or collapse in a major earthquake. Earthquake engineering is the scientific field concerned with
protecting society, the natural environment, and the man-made environment from earthquakes
by limiting the seismic risk to socio-economically acceptable levels.[1] Traditionally, it has been
narrowly defined as the study of the behavior of structures and geo-structures subject
to seismic loading; it is considered as a subset of structural engineering, geotechnical
engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics, etc. However, the
tremendous costs experienced in recent earthquakes have led to an expansion of its scope to
encompass disciplines from the wider field of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear
engineering, and from the social sciences, especially sociology, political science, economics,
and finance.
The main objectives of earthquake engineering are:

 Foresee the potential consequences of strong earthquakes on urban areas and civil

infrastructure.
 Design, construct and maintain structures to perform at earthquake exposure up to the
expectations and in compliance with building codes.[2]
A properly engineered structure does not necessarily have to be extremely strong or expensive.
It has to be properly designed to withstand the seismic effects while sustaining an acceptable
level of damage.

HOW EARTHQUAKES ARE MEASURED

Earthquakes are recorded by a seismographic network. Each seismic station in the network
measures the movement of the ground at that site. The slip of one block of rock over another in
an earthquake releases energy that makes the ground vibrate. That vibration pushes the
adjoining piece of ground and causes it to vibrate, and thus the energy travels out from the
earthquake hypocenter in a wave.
There are many different ways to measure different aspects of an earthquake:

 Magnitude is the most common measure of an earthquake's size. It is a measure of the

size of the earthquake source and is the same number no matter where you are or what
the shaking feels like. The Richter scale is an outdated method for measuring magnitude
that is no longer used by the USGS for large, teleseismic earthquakes. The Richter
scale measures the largest wiggle (amplitude) on the recording, but other magnitude
scales measure different parts of the earthquake. The USGS currently reports
 earthquake magnitudes using the Moment Magnitude scale, though many other
magnitudes are calculated for research and comparison purposes.
 Intensity is a measure of the shaking and damage caused by the earthquake; this value
changes from location to location.

TYPES OF EARTHQUAKE

Types of Earthquake

Tectonic Earthquake: The Earth’s crust comprises of the slab of rocks of uneven shapes. These slab
of rocks are tectonic plates. Furthermore, there is energy stored here. This energy causes tectonic
plates to push away from each other or towards each other. As time passes, the energy and
movement build up pressure between two plates.

Therefore, this enormous pressure causes the fault line to form. Also, the center point of this
disturbance is the focus of the Earthquake. Consequently, waves of energy travel from focus to the
surface. This results in shaking of the surface.

Volcanic Earthquake: This Earthquake is related to volcanic activity. Above all, the magnitude of
such Earthquakes is weak. These Earthquakes are of two types. The first type is Volcano-tectonic
earthquake. Here tremors occur due to injection or withdrawal of Magma. In contrast, the second
type is Long-period earthquake. Here Earthquake occurs due to the pressure changes among the
Earth’s layers.

Collapse Earthquake: These Earthquakes occur in the caverns and mines. Furthermore, these
Earthquakes are of weak magnitude. Undergrounds blasts are probably the cause of collapsing of
mines. Above all, this collapsing of mines causes seismic waves. Consequently, these seismic
waves cause an Earthquake.

Explosive Earthquake: These Earthquakes almost always occur due to the testing of nuclear
weapons. When a nuclear weapon detonates, a big blast occurs. This results in the release of a
huge amount of energy. This probably results in Earthquakes.

7 TECTONIC PLATES
These plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the Pacific Ocean. For purposes of this list, a
major plate is any plate with an area greater than 20 million km2.

 Pacific Plate – An oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean – 103,300,000 km2
 North American Plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and
part of Siberia. – 75,900,000 km2
 Eurasian Plate – A tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia –
67,800,000 km2
 African Plate – Tectonic plate underlying Africa west of the East African Rift –
61,300,000 km2
 Antarctic Plate – A tectonic plate containing the continent of Antarctica and extending
outward under the surrounding oceans – 60,900,000 km2
 Indo-Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate formed by the fusion of the Indian and
Australian plates – 58,900,000 km2 often considered two plates:
o Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate, originally a part of the ancient continent of
Gondwana – 47,000,000 km2
o Indian Plate – Major Tectonic plate that got separated from Gondwana –
11,900,000 km2
 South American Plate – Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a
large part of the south Atlantic – 43,600,000 km2