SEISMIC WAVES: Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the earth, for example as a result

t of an earthquake, explosion, or some other process that imparts low-frequency acoustic energy. Many other natural and anthropogenic sources create low amplitude waves commonly referred to as ambient vibrations. Seismic waves are studied by seismologists andgeophysicists. Seismic wave fields are measured by a seismograph, geophone, hydrophone (in water), or accelerometer. The propagation velocity of the waves depends on density and elasticity of the medium. Velocity tends to increase with depth, and ranges from approximately 2 to 8 km/s in the Earth's crust up to 13 km/s in the deep mantle. Earthquakes create various types of waves with different velocities; when reaching seismic observatories, their different travel time enables the scientists to locate the epicenter . In geophysics the refraction or reflection of seismic waves is used for research of the Earth's interior, and artificial vibrations to investigate subsurface structures. 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 wavesarrive). P waves are also known as compressional waves, because of the pushing and pulling theydo. 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'.

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 LAWRENCE BRAILE, USED WITH PERMISSION.

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. IMAGE 2000-2006 LAWRENCE BRAILE, USED WITH PERMISSION.

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.Click here to see a Love wave in action.

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-to-side 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. Click here to see a Rayleigh wave in action.

Using P and S-waves To Locate Earthquakes We can use the fact that P and S waves travel at different speeds to locate earthquakes. Assume a seismometer are is far enough from the earthquake that the waves travel roughly horizontally, which is about 50 to 500 km for shallow earthquakes. When an earthquake occurs the P and S waves travel outward from the region of the fault that ruptured and the P waves arrive at the seismometer first, followed by the S-wave. Once the S-wave arrives we can measure the time interval between the onset of P-wave and the onset of S-wave shaking. The travel time of the P wave is distance from earthquake / (P-wave speed) The travel time of the S wave is distance from earthquake / (S-wave speed) The difference in the arrival times of the waves is distance from earthquake / (S-wave speed) - distance from earthquake / (P-wave speed) which equals distance from earthquake * ( 1/ (S-wave speed) - 1 / (P-wave speed) ) We can measure that difference from a seismogram and if we also know the speed that the waves travel, we could calculate the distance by equating the measured time difference and the expression. For the distance range 50 to 500 km, the S-waves travel about 3.45 km/s and the P-waves around 8 km/s. The value in parentheses is then equal to about (1/3.45 - 1/8) or about 1/8. Thus the simple rule of thumb for earthquakes in this distance range is the distance is about eight times the arrival time of S-wave less the arrival time of the P-wave. That means that we can estimate the distance an earthquake is from a seismometer. The earthquake can be in any direction, but must be the estimated distance away. Geometrically that means that the earthquake must be located on a circle surrounding the seismometer, and the radius of the circle is about eight times the observed wave travel-time difference (in kilometers). If we have two other seismometers which recorded the same earthquake, we could make a similar measurement and construct a circle of possible locations for each seismometer. Since the earthquake location since it must lie on each circle centered on a seismometer, if we plot three or more circles on a map we could find that the three circles will intersect at a single location - the earthquake's epicenter.

Using the "S minus P arrival time" to locate an earthquake. You need at least three stations and some idea of the P and S velocities between the earthquake and the seismometers. In practice we use better estimates of the speed than our simple rule of thumb and solve the problem using algebra instead of geometry. We also can include the earthquake depth and the time that earthquake rupture initiated (called the "origin time") into the problem. EARTH QUAKES & FAULTS: An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in theEarth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. Earthquakes are measured using observations fromseismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe. The more numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5 reported by national seismological observatories are measured mostly on the local magnitude scale, also referred to as the Richterscale. These two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly almost imperceptible and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause serious damage over large areas, depending on their depth.

 The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, although there is no limit to the possible magnitude. The most recent large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or larger was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011 (as of March 2011), and it was the largest Japanese earthquake since records began. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being equal.[1] At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause atsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity. In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event whether natural or caused by humans that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

1. EARTHQUAKE BASICS - Global distribution of earthquakes. - Earthquakes are an energy release in the form of seismic waves caused by the sudden rupture of strained rocks. Strain is deformation of rocks resulting from stress (e.g., tectonic forces). - Earthquakes occur along faults (fracture where rocks have been displaced). - Three basic types of faults 1) Strike-slip 2) Normal 3) Reverse - Fault activity can be described by slip-rate and recurrence interval. 2. ELASTIC REBOUND THEORY OF EQ's - Rocks on either side of a fault undergo elastic strain as they are stressed by tectonic forces.

When they finally rupture, the built-up stress is released and the rocks "rebound" to their original undeformed shape. - The recurrence interval is the time it takes to accumulate sufficient elastic strain to cause the next EQ. - Stages of Elastic Rebound ModelEQ Cycle Stage 1 - long period of seismic inactivity during build up of elastic strain. Stage 2- increased seismicity as elastic strain approaches rock strength. Stage 3- foreshock activity (small to moderate EQ's before the main event) Stage 4- the main earthquake event. 3. THE DILATANCY-DIFFUSION MODEL OF EQ's -More recent model, involving fluid pressure. Stages of Dilatancy-Diffusion Model Stage 1 - build-up of elastic strain Stage 2 - elastic strain eventually causes rocks to dilate (increase in volume) when stress on rocks = 50% of the rock strength. Open fractures develop with minor seismicity. Stage 3 - influx of water into open fractures increases fluid pressure. This lowers the rock strength and facilitates rupture. Stage 4 - Rupture occurs and fluid pressure and stress on rocks is released.

4. TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES 2 Basic Types: 1) Body waves: travel within the Earth. - Two Types: a) P-waves: (compressional) alternating compression and dilation in the direction of wave propagation (~5.5 km/s). Can travel through solids, liquids, and gases. b) S-waves: (shear or secondary) up-down (vertical) motion that is perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation (~3.5 km/s). Can travel through solids only.

2) Surface waves: travel on or near the Earth's surface (~2 km/s); very destructive - Two Types: a) Love waves: complex horizontal (side-to-side) motion.

b) Rayleigh waves: rolling or elliptical motion in the vertical plane, like a waves on the ocean surface, a little slower than Love waves; EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE AND INTENSITY 1. Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale: (ranges from I to XII) - Subjective measure of the kind of damage and human reaction. - EQ affected areas can be mapped where intensities values are similar. - Provides approximate location and size of EQ, as well as the effects of local geology and building construction. 2. Richter Magnitude Scale: (from 0 to infinity; values of >9 are unlikely) - Measure of the energy released; more quantitative the Mercalli scale. - Based on the largest amplitude seismic wave measured on a seismograph ~100 km from the EQ focus. - Base-10 logarithmic scale; thus M=7 EQ has wave amplitude on a seismograph 10x larger than M=6 EQ. Energy increase is ~30x per number on Richter scale. - Generally used for local, moderate-sized EQ's (ie. M?7). - Symbols: ML = Local magnitude regardless of wave used (P, S, or surface). Mb = magnitude based on body waves (P or S). Ms = magnitude based on surface waves (Love or Rayleigh). 3. Seismic Moment: (Mw) more quantitative and accurate than Richter Scale. - Based on energy released determined by three factors: 1) amount of slip on fault 2) rupture surface area 3) rock strength. - Seismic Moment (Mo) = (slip) x (surface area) x (shear strength) Mw = 2/3logMo -10.7 - Much better than Richter for estimate of energy release for large EQ's (ie. M>7). Richter Scale underestimates the magnitude of large EQ's. - Largest EQ ever recorded: South-Central Chile, 1960 (Mw = 9.5; Ms = 8.5)

Types of Faults A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers. Most faults produce repeated displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of Most earthquake faults, the fault suddenly slips with respect to the unlike California's San other. The fault surface can be horizontal or Andreas fault, are too vertical or some arbitrary angle in between. deep for seismologists to Earth scientists use the angle of the fault with watch. respect to the surface (known as the dip) and the direction of slip along the fault to classify faults. Faults that move along the direction of the dip plane are dip-slip faults and described as either normal or reverse, depending on their motion. Faults that move horizontally are known as strike-slip faults and are classified as either right-lateral or left-lateral. Faults that show both dip-slip and strike-slip motion are known as oblique-slip faults.

A normal fault is a dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved downward

relative to the block below. This type of faulting occurs in response to extension and is often observed in the Western United States Basin and Range Province and along oceanic ridge systems.

A thrust fault is a dip-slip fault in which the upper block, above the fault plane, moves up and over the lower block. This type of faulting is common in areas of compression, such as regions where one plate is being subducted under another as in Japan and along the Washington coast. When the dip angle is shallow, a reverse fault is often described as a thrust fault.

A strike-slip fault is a fault on which the two blocks slide past one another. These faults are identified as either right-lateral or left lateral depending on whether the displacement of the far block is to the right or the left when viewed from either side. The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a right lateral fault.

MEASURES OF AN EARTHQUAKE: Why Earthquakes Are Hard to Measure Earthquakes are very hard to measure on a standard scale of size. The problem is like finding one number for the quality of a baseball pitcher. You can start with the pitcher's win-loss record, but there are more things to consider: earned-run average, strikeouts and walks, career longevity and so on. Baseball statisticians tinker with indexes that weigh these factors

Earthquakes are easily as complicated as pitchers. They are fast or slow. Some are gentle, others are violent. They're even right-handed or left-handed. They are oriented different wayshorizontal, vertical, or in between They occur in different geologic settings, deep within continents or out in the ocean. Yet somehow we want a single meaningful number for ranking the world's earthquakes. The goal has always been to figure out the total amount of energy a quake releases, because that tells us profound things about the dynamics of the Earth's interior.

Richter's First Scale The pioneering seismologist Charles Richter started in the 1930s by simplifying everything he could think of. He chose one standard instrument, a Wood-Anderson seismograph, used only nearby earthquakes in Southern California, and took only one piece of datathe distance A in millimeters that the seismograph needle moved. He worked up a simple adjustment factor B to allow for near versus distant quakes, and that was the first Richter scale of local magnitude ML:

ML = log A + B
A graphical version of his scale is reproduced on the Caltech archives site. You'll notice that ML really measures the size of earthquake waves, not an earthquake's total energy, but it was a start. This scale worked fairly well as far as it went, which was for small and moderate earthquakes in Southern California. Over the next 20 years Richter and many other workers extended the scale to newer seismometers, different regions, and different kinds of seismic waves. Later "Richter Scales" Soon enough Richter's original scale was abandoned, but the public and the press still use the phrase "Richter magnitude." Seismologists used to mind, but not any more. Today seismic events may be measured based on body waves or surface waves (these are explained in Earthquakes in a Nutshell). The formulas differ but they yield the same numbers for moderate earthquakes. Body-wave magnitude is

mb = log(A/T) + Q(D,h)
where A is the ground motion (in microns), T is the wave's period (in seconds), and Q(D,h) is a correction factor that depends on distance to the quake's epicenter D (in degrees) and focal depthh (in kilometers).

Surface-wave magnitude is

Ms = log(A/T) + 1.66 logD + 3.30

mb uses relatively short seismic waves with a 1-second period, so to it every quake source that is larger than a few wavelengths looks the same. That corresponds to a magnitude of about 6.5. Ms uses 20-second waves and can handle larger sources, but it too saturates around magnitude 8. That's OK for most purposes because magnitude-8 or great events happen only about once a year on average for the whole planet. But within their limits, these two scales are a reliable gauge of the actual energy that earthquakes release. The biggest earthquake whose magnitude we know was in 1960, in the Pacific right off central Chile on May 22. Back then, it was said to be magnitude 8.5, but today we say it was 9.5. What happened in the meantime was that Tom Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori came up with a better magnitude scale in 1979. This moment magnitude, Mw, is not based on seismometer readings at all but on the total energy released in a quake, the seismic moment Mo (in dyne-centimeters):

Mw = 2/3 log(Mo) - 10.7

This scale therefore does not saturate. Moment magnitude can match anything the Earth can throw at us. The formula for Mw is such that below magnitude 8 it matches Ms and below magnitude 6 it matches mb, which is close enough to Richter's old ML. So keep calling it the Richter scale if you likeit's the scale Richter would have made if he could. The U.S. Geological Survey's Henry Spall interviewed Charles Richter in 1980 about "his" scale. It makes lively reading. PS: Earthquakes on Earth simply can't get bigger than around Mw = 9.5. A piece of rock can store up only so much strain energy before it ruptures, so the size of a quake depends strictly on how much rockhow many kilometers of fault lengthcan rupture at once. The Chile Trench, where the 1960 quake occurred, is the longest straight fault in the world. The only way to get more energy is with giant landslides or asteroid impacts.

HAZARD HUNT- Identify potential dangers in the home using common sense, fore-sight, and your imagination to reduce risk in the event of an earthquake. Take active security measures, surveying the home for possible hazards. Take steps to correct and secure these hazards, reducing risk. HAZARD-RISK REDUCTION

Tall heavy furniture which could fall; fix it to a wall. Hot water heaters that can fall away from pipes and rupture need to be anchored to a wall. Use flexible gas line connectors. Appliances that can be moved can break electrical or gas lines and must be anchored to a stable location with flexible connections. Be sure heavy mirrors or picture frames are placed away from beds and mounted securely to the wall. Cabinets containing breakable items should have latches and heavy objects should be placed low to the ground. Flammable liquids must be stored securely away from flame. Masonry chimneys need bricks checked. Firmly support the roof. Beds should not be placed near windows. Glass bottles should not be placed on high shelves.

FAMILY EARTHQUAKE DRILLS will help you and your family plan and react; remembering where to seek shelter and how to protect yourselves.

Identify safe spots and places in each room. -Under a doorway, sturdy table, desk, or kitchen counter. -Against an inside corner or wall; cover head with hands. -Know and reinforce these locations by practice. Beware of danger zones and stay clear of: -Windows that may shatter, including mirrors and picture frames. -Heating units, fireplace, stove, and area around chimneys. -Cabinets, refrigerators, and bookcases that may topple. Practice safe quake actions: -Conduct drills, check reactions and choices. Discuss what to expect following a major earthquake and be prepared: -To treat and take care of injuries. -To check for gas leaks and learn where and how to turn off the gas, power, and water at main switches and valves. -For aftershocks and exiting the building. -Remember to stay close and if separated to activate the emergency communication plan.