CE163-1

BASICS OF EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

 SEISMOLOGY 01 OUTLINE
Seismology
Terminology

DYNAMIC EARTH 02
STRUCTURE
Earth Layers, Heat Convection,
Continental Drift, & Theory of Global
Plate Tectonics

ELASTIC REBOUND THEORY 03

Causes of
Earthquakes
SEISMOLOGY
Terminology
1 SEISMOLOGY Seismology is the scientific discipline that studies
seismic activity from various sources
(tectonic, volcanic, etc.), in particular, the
propagation of seismic waves through the interior of
the earth and their environmental effects, such as
ground shaking, and tsunamis.

Engineering seismology is the applied

branch of seismology that focuses on
characterizing seismic hazards at a site or
region in order to evaluate risks to various
vulnerable infrastructure systems.

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 DYNAMIC
EARTH
STRUCTURE
Layers of the Earth, Heat
Convection Mechanism,
Continental Drift
 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

The internal structure of the Earth is one of

the key parameters to understand the major
seismic activity around the world.

Illustration of the lithosphere and asthenosphere (Press and Siever 1986)

The lithosphere and asthenosphere are the two outermost

boundaries of the Earth that are defined in terms of material
strength and stiffness. The lithosphere is rigid and relatively strong.
It is mainly formed of the crust and the outermost part of the
mantle. The thickness of lithosphere is approximately 125 km.

The asthenosphere lies below the lithosphere and it forms mainly

the weak part of the mantle (a softer layer) that can deform through
creep. The lithosphere can be considered to float over the
asthenosphere.

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

The interior of the Earth is in constant motion

that is driven by heat. The source of heat is the
radioactivity within the core.

Illustration of Heat Convection Mechanism showing Lithosphere and

Athenosphere

Convection currents within the asthenosphere

moves the lithospheric plates (tectonic plates)
like a conveyor belt. The movement of these
plates results in two slabs diverging from each
other, or converging to each other. Heat convection mechanism and the relative
motion of lithospheric plates due to heat convection currents,
(Press and Siever, 1986)

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT

The physical process described in the previous

section also explains the continuous motion of the
continents. In fact, 225 million years ago all of the
continents had formed a single landmass, called
Pangaea.

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT

The pioneering explanations about the motion

of continents were done by a few geologists in
the second half of the 20th century. One of
these earth scientists was Richard Field who
studied the geology of the ocean floor.

The discovery of mountain chains or ridges

along the major oceans as shown in the Figure,
and observations on the dense seismic activity
along the oceanic ridges indicated that these
zones are under continuous deformation.

Mid-oceanic ridges on the sea floor of Atlantic Ocean

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Sea-floor Spreading Mechanism
DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE
SEA FLOOR SPREADING
In 1960, Harry Hess proposed the theory of
sea-floor spreading and suggested that the
ocean floor is formed continuously by the
magma that rises up from within the mantle
into the central gorges of the oceanic ridges.
The magma spreading out from the gorges
pushes the two sides of the ridge apart. This
mechanism separates the two tectonic plates
from each other as in the case of African and
South American continents. Today the
continuous formation of ocean floor still moves
these two continents apart from each other.
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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

SUBDUCTION

• The new oceanic crust that is formed

continuously at the mid-oceanic ridges
should expand the Earth unless another
mechanism consumes the older material
that is in excess due to the newly formed
material. There are regions in the oceanic
floor where the lithosphere is descending
into the mantle, being consumed at the same
rate that new crust is being generated at the
Subduction Mechanism
oceanic ridges.

• This process is known as subduction and it

The seismic activity is intense in subduction
regions as in the case of mid-oceanic ridges due to occurs where two plates collide and one is
high deformation rates between the colliding
slabs.
pushed down below the other.

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

THEORY OF GLOBAL PLATE

TECTONICS

• The evidence provided by the mechanisms of

mid-oceanic ridges and subduction regions
as well as high seismic activity at these
zones was used to formulate the theory of
global plate tectonics (e.g., Isacks et al. 1968;
McKenzie 1968).

• The Earth’s surface is divided into a number

of lithospheric slabs called tectonic plates
Global Tectonic Plates, USGS and they move relative to each other as a
result of the underlying convection currents
in the mantle.

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE

THEORY OF GLOBAL PLATE TECTONICS

• The arrows in the Figure show the directions of

relative motions of tectonic plates.

NASA

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
TECTONIC PLATE MOVEMENTS 2 STRUCTURE
Tectonic plates interact at their boundaries in
one of the three ways:

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 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE
INTERPLATE EARTHQUAKES

Earthquake activity around the world in the period from 1900 to 2018
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Pacific Ring of Fire

• Stretching 40,000 km (24,000 miles) around

the circumference of the Pacific Ocean.

• Plates that make up the Pacific basin are

generally subducting beneath continental
plates, causing subduction-zones volcanism in
the surface.

• Nearly 80% of the earth’s volcanoes are found

near the tectonic plate boundaries of the
Pacific Ocean.
 DYNAMIC EARTH
2 STRUCTURE
INTRAPLATE EARTHQUAKES

Earthquake activity around the world in the period from 1900 to 2018
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 ELASTIC
REBOUND
THEORY
Causes of Earthquakes
 ELASTIC REBOUND
3 THEORY

In a global sense,
tectonic earthquakes
result from motion
between a number of
large plates comprising
the earth’s crust or
lithosphere (about 15
large plates, in total).

The tectonic plates divide the Earth's crust into distinct "plates" that are always slowly moving.
USGS
Earthquakes are concentrated along these plate boundaries.

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 ELASTIC REBOUND
3 THEORY
Relative plate motion at the fault interface is
constrained by friction or asperities (areas of
interlocking due to protrusions in the fault
surfaces). However, strain energy accumulates in
the plates, eventually overcomes any resistance,
and causes slip between the two sides of the fault.
USGS

This sudden slip, termed elastic rebound by Reid (1910) based on his studies of regional
deformation following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

Two types of movement / slip:

• Aseismic (in the form of creep) – happens to weak rocks, where rupture gradually releases the strain energy.

• Seismic (in the form of earthquake) – happens to strong rocks, where rupture is very fast, releasing the strain
abruptly

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 Elastic Rebound Theory

The Figure depicts the gradual buildup of strain resulting from the relative motion of two plate
boundaries when the motion is being resisted by friction forces. The fault slips when the stresses
overcome the shear strength of the rock, and the two sides of the fault rebound to an unstressed
state, resulting in radiating seismic waves.

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Elastic Rebound Theory

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END