EARTHQUAKE

 Oscillation or vibration of the surface of earth is known as Earthquake

 The place of the origin of the earthquake is called ‘focus’ or ‘centre’ which is hidden
inside the earth’s surface
 The place on the ground surface which is perpendicular to the buried focus is called
‘epicenter’
 Focus or center of earthquake situated around 5 km – 700 km under the surface
 Classification of earthquake on the basis of depth of focus:
i. Shallow Depth Focus – Within 50 km
ii. Medium Depth Focus – 50 to 300 km
iii. Deep Depth Focus – 300 to 700 km
 Seismic waves are recorded by an instrument called ‘seismograph’ (by John Milne in 1880)
 Energy released by earthquake, spread in form of wave which is known as seismic wave
 Intensity of earthquake is maximum between 15 km – 35 km under the surface
 Over the surface maximum intensity of earthquake is in epicenter
 Intensity of earthquake gradually decrease while distance from epicenter increases
 Line joining places which experiences the earthquake at the same time is known as
Homoseismal Line
 Line joining places which experiences the same intensity of earthquake is known as
Isoseismal Line or Isodiastrophic Line
 Earthquake with low intensity is termed as Tremor
 Intensity of earthquake is measured by Mercalli scale, invented by Giuseppe Mercalli in 1931
 Magnitude of earthquake is measured by Richter scale, invented by Charles Richter in 1935
 In Richter scale which earthquake measured by 6 is 10 times stronger than earthquake marked
by 5 and 100 times stronger than earthquake marked by 4
 A value of 9.6 in Richter scale is the largest observed earthquake till now in Chile in 22 nd May
1960.
 Types of Seismic Waves: P wave, S wave and L wave
 P wave –
I. P wave is also known as Primary wave or Push wave
II. ‘P’ is the first wave that captured by seismograph
III. P wave is an example of longitudinal wave
IV. It has minimum wave length among the three waves
V. It is the fastest wave among three (5 km – 14 km per second)
VI. It can penetrate through all state of matter (solid, liquid and gas)
VII. When density of lithosphere is homogenous then P wave passes through in a
straight line
VIII. When density of lithosphere is heterogeneous then P wave reflected from its
own path
 S wave –
I. After P wave S wave or Secondary wave captured by seismograph
II. Speed of S wave is 3.5 km – 7.2 km per second
Nabarun Jana
 III. S wave is an example of Latitudinal wave
IV. It only can penetrate through solid state of matter
V. It can’t penetrate through outer mantle due to its liquid state
 L wave –
I. At the last stage L wave or Long wave captured by seismograph
II. L wave is also known as Surface wave
III. It is an example of transverse wave
IV. It has maximum wave length but minimum speed (3 km per second)
V. It only can penetrate through solid state of matter
VI. It cause most of the destruction over earth surface
VII. It only spread through the earth’s surface
L wave can be divided into two division:
i. Love wave – This surface wave move ahead in horizontal motion.
ii. Rayleigh wave – This surface wave which move ahead in a elliptical motion.
 Shadow Zone – Region between 104° - 140° angular distance from epicenter is known as
shadow zone of earthquake because no effect of earthquake observed because of refraction of
P wave and absorption of S wave . Shadow zone situated between 11,540 km – 15,940 km
from epicenter
 Primary and Secondary wave also known as Body Wave
 Causes of Earthquake:
 Tectonic Causes – Plate movement (main causes of earthquake), Contraction of earth’s
surface, Upliftment of folded mountain, Volcanisity, Isostatic adjustment 95%
earthquake occurs due to tectonic causes.
 Non-tectonic Causes – Slide, Avalanche, Fall of meteors
 Man made Causes – Atomic bomb blast, Blasting in mines, Construction work in
mountainous region
 Earthquake prone belt in world:
a) Circum Pacific Belt – 68% earthquake occurs here. This region is also known as ‘Ring
of Fire’. It consist Chile, California, Alaska, Japan, Philippines and New Zealand
b) Alps Himalayan / Tethys / Mid World Mountain Belt – 21% earthquake occurs here
c) Mid Atlantic Oceanic Ridge and African Rift Valley Belt – 11% earthquake occurs
here
 Earthquake Prone Regions of India:
a) Very High Earthquake Prone – Jammu and Kashmir, North East India, Kutch of
Gujarat, Andaman and Nicobar Island
b) High Earthquake Prone – Northern Plain, Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal
c) Moderate Earthquake Prone –Ahmadabad, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Lakshadweep, Andhra Pradesh
d) Low Earthquake Prone – Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka
 About 80% volcanoes are associated with convergent plate boundary.
 About 15% volcanoes are associated with divergent plate boundary.
 Maximum volcanicity occurs in mid oceanic ridge region.
 Maximum earthquake occurs in oceanic trench regions.
Nabarun Jana