PRINCIPLES OF SEISMOLOGY/

1.0 CHARACTERISTICS OF EARTHQUAKE

PROFESSIONAL COURSE – SPECIALIZED 2

EARTHQUAKE

An earthquake is manifested as ground shaking caused by the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust.
This energy may originate from different sources, such as dislocations of the crust, volcanic eruptions or even by man-
made explosions or the collapse of underground cavities, such as mines or karsts

EARTHQUAKE CHARACTERISTICS

PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

 derives from the theory of continental drift and seafloor spreading
 plates are large and stable rigid rock slabs w/ thickness of about 100km, forming the crust or lithosphere and
part of the upper mantle of the Earth
 Horizontal movement of the lithosphere is 1-10cm/yr. and is caused by convection currents in the mantle

PRINCIPAL TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES

1. Divergent or Rift Zones - Plates separate themselves from one another
2. Convergent or Subduction Zones - Adjacent plates collide
3. Transform Zones or Transcurrent Horizontal Slip - Two plates glide past one another but without creating
new lithosphere or subducting old lithosphere
When an oceanic plate pushes into and subducts When an oceanic plate converge one is usually
under continental plate, overriding continental plate is subducted under the other and in the process a deep
lifted and a mountain range is created. oceanic trench is formed.

FAULTING
 When two ground masses move with respect to
one another, elastic strain energy due to tectonic
process is stored and then released through the
rupture of the interface zone. The distorted
blocks snap back towards equilibrium and an
earthquake ground motion is produced. This
process is referred to as “Elastic Rebound”.
 The straining developed due to fault movements
produces a fracture at the weakest point,
releasing large energy. Faults are zones of
weakness in rocks along which motion may
occur.
 Faults showing signs of displacements are called
active faults. The Philippines has many active faults.
 There are three main types of faults:
o Normal Fault – characterized by the downward sliding of the fault block situated above the fault
surface
o Thrust Fault – characterized by the upward sliding of the fault block located above the fault surface.
o Strike-slip or wrench fault – occurs when one fault block moves horizontally to the left or to the right
with respect to the opposite block.

EPICENTER
  the point on the Earth’s Surface directly above the focus or hypocenter of an earthquake. The epicentres of
EQ are located along the boundaries of plates.

FOCUS (HYPOCENTER)
 the place at which rupture commences

SEISMIC WAVES

 Body Waves - travel through the Earth’s interior layers

o P Waves - primary, compression or longitudinal
waves with relatively little damage potential.
These cause alternate push (or compression)
and pull (or tension). They pass through solid
and fluids. These are the first waves to arrive at
the site.
o S waves - secondary, shear or transverse
waves, causes vertical and horizontal side to
side motion. Their motions can be separated into
horizontal (SH) and vertical components, both of
which can cause significant damage

MEASURING EARTHQUAKE
DISTANCE OF THE EPICENTER

LOCATING AN EPICENTER
MAGNITUDE VS INTENSITY
 Magnitude – based on energy released (Quantitative). Richter Scale. Similar to energy (watts) in lamps
 Intensity – based on damage and perception (Qualitative). Similar to brightness in lamps. Depends on
location, soil condition and distance from the epicenter.
 EARTHQUAKE GROUND MOTION, EQUATIONS AND
2.0 ATTENUATION COEFFICIENT OF SOILS AND ROCKS
PROFESSIONAL COURSE – SPECIALIZED 2

EARTHQUAKE GROUND MOTION

 Earthquake ‘ground motion’ describes the phenomenon of shaking as the earthquake waves arrive at, or
travel across, the surface of the earth.
 Ground-Motion Models show the relation of the intensity of ground shaking to the distance from the source
and their regional characteristics.

EARTHQUAKE OCCURRENCE AND RETURN PERIOD

 Current seismic design approaches deal with uncertainties associated with structural demand and capacity by
utilizing probabilistic analysis (Cornell et.al, 2002)
 Earthquakes are usually modelled as a Poisson process.
 The Poisson model is a continuous time, integer-value counting process with stationary independent
increments
 In the conventional approach described therein, the probability of an event occurring in the interval is
independent in history.
 Model does not include aftershocks.

 Richter Scale - A quantitative measure of an earthquake’s magnitude (size), devised in 1935 by American
seismologists Charles F. Richter and Beno Gutenberg.
 GROUND MOTION MODEL (ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP)

 The attenuation of earthquake ground motions is important in estimating ground motion parameters for
assessment and design purposes.
 Ground motion Models are analytical expressions describing ground motion variation with magnitude, source
distance and site condition.
 A key step in in probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard analysis (Cornell, 1968)
 22 MAY, 1960 - “The Great Chilean Earthquake” Valdivia earthquake of 1960, strongest earthquake in history.

STRONG GROUND MOTION

The earth is far from being quiet, it vibrates almost continuously at periods ranging from milliseconds to days
and amplitudes ranging from nanometers to meters. These vibrations are so weak that they cannot be felt or even
detected without specialized measurement equipment.

For engineering purposes, three characteristics of earthquake motion are of primary significance:
1. Amplitude
2. Frequency content
3. Duration of the motion

In practice, it is usually necessary to use more than one of these parameters to characterize a particular
ground motion adequately.

SEISMOGRAPHS
 Used to measure relatively weak ground motion, the records they produce are called seismograms.
 The simplest type of seismograph ca be illustrated by a mass spring-damper single-degree-of-freedom
(SDOF) system.
VIBRATING SYSTEMS
 Rigid System – one in which no strains occur, all points within a rigid system move in phase with each other.
 Compliant System – different points within the system may move differently (and out phase) from each other.

DEGREE OF FREEDOM

 Discrete System – mass can be concentrated at a finite number of locations

o Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDOF) - A discrete system whose position can be described completely

by a single variable is known as SDOF system.

o These forces can also be expressed in terms of

the motion of the mass. Newton’s second law
states that the inertial force acting on a mass is
equal to its rate of change of momentum, which
for a system of constant mass produces

o For a viscous dashpot, the damping force is proportional to

the velocity of the mass

o and the force provided by the spring is simply the product of its
stiffness and the amount by which it is displaced

o Substituting equation B into equation A, the equation of motion

for the SDOF system can be written as

 Continuous System – distributed throughout the system and infinite

 GROUND MOTION MODELS

FEATURES OF STRONG MOTION DATA FOR ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIPS

 All magnitudes should be uniformly recalculated using consistent approaches

 All distances have to be defined uniformly
 Use the distance from the closest point on the causative fault to the measuring site, not the epicentral
distance.

ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP FOR EUROPE

ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP FOR JAPAN

ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP FOR NORTH AMERICA

 Central and Eastern United States

o this is based on a stochastic method and three source model
o It was developed for soil sites in Upper Mississippi Embayment in the New Madrid seismic zone

 Western North America

o Boore et al. (1997) (2005) formulated the equation to predict peak ground accelerations
WORLDWIDE ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP

 In some cases the attenuation relationships were derived for specific fault rupture mechanisms, such as
subduction zones (Youngs ef 1988,1997; Crouse, 1991) or extensional regimes
 Dahle et al. ( 1990 ). Formulae for intra - plate regions have also been proposed by
 Comprehensive analytical studies based on large data sets of records for both horizontal and vertical
components have been carried out by Bozorgnia et al. ( 2000 ), Campbell and Bozorgnia ( 2003 ) and
Ambraseys and Douglas ( 2003 );
 SEISMIC HAZARD ANALYSIS
3.0 PROFESSIONAL COURSE – SPECIALIZED 2

PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

 The Ring of Fire surrounds several tectonic plates— including the vast Pacific Plate and the smaller
Philippine, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, and Nazca plates. Many of these plates are subducting under the
continental plates they border.

SEISMIC HAZARDS

 Ground Shaking - Disruptive up, down and sideways vibration of the ground during an earthquake.
 Ground Rupture - Deformation on the ground that marks, the intersection of the fault with the earth’s surface.
 Liquefaction - Phenomenon wherein sediments, especially near bodies of water, behave like liquid similar to a
quicksand.
 Landslide - Down slope movement of rocks, solid and other debris commonly triggered by strong shaking.

SEISMIC HAZARD ANALYSIS

Seismic hazards may be analyzed deterministically, as when a particular earthquake scenario is assumed, or
probabilistically, in which uncertainties in earthquake size, location, and time of occurence are explicitly considered.

IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF EARTHQUAKE SOURCES

ALL possible sources of seismic activity must be identified and their potential for generating future strong
ground motion evaluated.

The availability of modern seismographs and seismographic networks has made observation and
interpretation of current earthquakes rather convenient.

1. Geologic Evidence
 The search for geologic evidence of earthquake sources centers on the identification of faults.
 The theory of plate tectonics assures us that the occurrence of earthquakes is written in the geologic
record, primarily in the form of offsets, or relative displacements, of various strata.
 The study of the geologic record of past earthquake activity is called paleo seismology (Wallace, 1981)
 The identification of seismic sources from geologic evidence is a vital, though often difficult part of a
seismic hazard analysis
 List of Features that suggest faulting
o DIRECTLY OBSERVABLE FRACTURE SURFACES AND INDICATORS OF FRACTURING - include
disruption of the ground surface and evidence of the movement and grinding of the two sides of the fault
(slickenslides, fault gouge, and fault breccia).
o GEOLOGICALLY MAPPABLE INDICATORS - include the juxtaposition of dissimilar materials, missing or
repeated strata and the truncation of strata or structures.
o TOPOGRAPHIC AND GEOMORPHIC (SURFACE LANDFORMS) INDICATORS - include topographic
scarps or triangular facets on ridges, offset streams or drainage, tilting or changes in elevation of terraces
or shore lines.
o SECONDARY GEOLOGIC FEATURES - include abrupt changes in groundwater levels, gradients, and
chemical composition, alignment of springs or volcanic vents and the presence of hotsprings.
o LINEAMENTS ON REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY - These may be caused by topography, vegetation or
tonal contrasts.
o GEOPHYSICAL INDICATORS OF SUBSURFACE FAULTING - include steep linear gravity or magnetic
gradients, differences in seismic wave velocities, and offset of seismic reflection horizons.
o GEODETIC INDICATORS - include fault movement appearing in geodetic surveys as tilting and changes
in the distance between fixed points.

FAULT ACTIVITY

o ACTIVE FAULT - a fault that poses a current earthquake threat

o INACTIVE FAULT - one on which past earthquake activity is unlikely to be repeated

Formal definitions of fault activity are important because they often trigger legal requirements for special
investigations or special design provisions.

MAGNITUDE INDICATORS
o Geologic evidence can also be used to estimate the magnitude of past earthquakes by correlating
observed deformation characteristics with the known magnitudes of recorded earthquakes.
o Rupture length, rupture area, and fault displacement can be evaluated by post earthquake, field
geological investigations

2. Tectonic Evidence
 Earthquakes occur to relieve the strain energy that accumulates as plates move relative to each other
 Plate tectonics and elastic rebound theory tell us that earthquakes occur to relieve the strain energy that
accumulates as plates move relative to each other.
 The rate of movement, therefore, should be related to the rate of strain energy accumulation and also to
the rate of strain energy release.
 For major subduction zones, Ruff and Kanamori (1980) related maximum magnitude to both the rate of
convergence and the age of subducted slab according to

3. Historical Seismicity
 Historical accounts of ground-shaking effects can be used to confirm the occurrence of past earthquakes
and to estimate their geographic distributions of intensity.
 When sufficient data are available, the maximum intensity can be determined and used to estimate the
location of the earthquake epicenter and the magnitude of the event.
 Since historical records are dated, they can also be used to evaluate the rate of recurrence of
earthquakes, or seismicity, in particular areas.
 Ritsuko S. Matsu’ura - Matsu’ura (2017) summarized historical earthquake studies in Japan with its
history. Seismicity in Japan is high; earthquake with M~7 occurs once a year on average. Compilation of
historical records documenting earthquakes and their damage amounts to about 28,000 pages in modern
characters, from which about 8700 Intensity Data Points have been estimated
4. Instrumental Seismicity
  Seismologists use more sensitive instruments to observe and study better-quality data about earthquakes.
 Instrumental recordings represent the best available information for the identification and evaluation of
earthquake sources.
 This way, seismologists, not only figured out the seismic-wave velocity structure of the mantle and the
core but also constructed epicenters and travel times of the earthquakes using the global data.
 Showed that the Earth is, in fact, a nearly spherically symmetric body, with only a few major internal
discontinuities
 Seismometer - A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground noises and shaking such as
caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing
device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The output of such a device—formerly recorded on
paper or film, now recorded and processed digitally—is a seismogram. Such data is used to locate and
characterize earthquakes, and to study the Earth's internal structure.

Let’s have a recap…

Seismic Hazard Analysis – the process of predicting strong ground motions for a given site.
Ground Motions - the movement of the earth's surface from earthquakes or explosions. Ground motion is produced by
waves that are generated by a sudden slip on a fault or sudden pressure at the explosive source and travel through
the earth and along its surface

TYPES OF SEISMIC HAZARD ANALYSIS

DETERMINISTIC SEISMIC HAZARD ANALYSIS

 DSHA is the “original” seismic hazard analysis.
 It involves the development of a particular or single seismic scenario upon which a ground motion hazard
evaluation is based.
 It is a simple procedure that provides a straightforward framework for the computation of ground motions to be
used for the worst-case design.
 The object of the deterministic method is to answer the question, “What is the worst that could happen in an
earthquake?". (e.g.: Large Dams, Nuclear Power Plants)

1. Identify all Earthquake Sources. Identification and characterization of all earthquake sources capable of
producing significant motion at the site. Source characterization includes the definition of each source’s
geometry (the source zone) and earthquake potential.
SOURCE ZONES
a. May consist of a mapped fault (known fault geometry)
i. Areas of high seismicity
ii. Areas of shallow or outcropping bedrock
iii. Areas of sparse surficial vegetation
iv. Example: California
b. May consist of a diffuse zone (unknown fault geometry)
i. Areas of low seismicity
ii. Areas with significant sediment cover
iii. Areas with dense vegetation cover
iv. Example: Washington

2. Compute the closest source-to-site distances. Selection of a source-to-site distance parameter for each stone.
in most DSHAs, the shortest distance between the source zone and the side of interest is selected. the
distance may be expressed as an epicentral distance or hypocentral distance, depending on the measure of
the distance of the predictive relationship used in the following step.
3. Selection of the controlling earthquake (i.e., the earthquake that is expected to produce the
strongest level of shaking), generally expressed in terms of some ground motion parameter, at the
site. The selection is made by comparing the levels of shaking produced by earthquakes (identified
in step 1) assumed to occur at the distances identified in step 2. The controlling earthquake is
described in terms of its size (usually expressed as magnitude) and distance from the site