Geology for Engineers

Planet Earth

EARTH QUAKE

INTRODUCTION

An earthquake is a vibration that

travels through the earth's crust.
An earth quake is as a result of a
sudden release of energy in the earths
crust that create seismic waves.
A sudden, rapid shaking of the earth
caused by the breaking and shifting of
rocks beneath the earth surface.

Types of Earthquakes

Tectonic earth quake: they are caused by tectonic forces that produce
movement and deformation of the crust.

Non-tectonic earth quakes: they are caused by a number of processes

such as volcanic eruptions and superficial movements like land slides.

Seismic waves
The energy released during faulting, produces
seismic waves which can be detected by sensitive
and delicate instruments, called seismographs,
installed at specially
designed seismographic stations; the record of
seismic waves is called seismogram.

Seismic waves..
a.0 Body waves:
a.1 P-wave (primary): is a compressional (or
longitudinal) wave in which rock vibrates back and
forth parallel to the directions of wave propagation.
a.2 S wave (secondary): These are waves that travel
in directions at right angles (i.e. transverse) to the
directions of propagation of the wave.
b.0 Surface waves. These are the slowest waves, set
off by earthquakes. Surface waves causes more
property damage than body waves because
surface waves produce more movement and travel
more slowly, so they take longer to pass e.g Love
waves, Rayleigh waves:

Seismic waves..

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake

Intensity:

Intensity is a measure of an
Earthquakes effect on people and buildings. Or
intensity of an earthquake is the rating of an
earthquake based on the actual effects produced by
the quake on the earth. Intensities are expressed as
Roman numerals ranging from l to Xll

Magnitude:

Magnitude is a measure of the energy

released during an earthquake. This method is usually
done by measuring the height (amplitude) of one
of the wiggles on a seismogram. The larger the
quake, the more the ground vibrates and the
larger the wiggle

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake.

Magnitude
The Richter magnitude scale (also Richter scale) assigns a
magnitude number to quantify the energy released by an
earthquake. The Richter scale, developed in the 1930s, is a base-10
logarithmic scale, which defines magnitude as the logarithm of the
ratio of the amplitude of the seismic waves to an arbitrary, minor
amplitude.
As measured with a seismometer, an earthquake that registers 5.0
on the Richter scale has shaking amplitude 10 times that of an
earthquake that registered 4.0, and thus corresponds to a release of
energy 31.6 times that released by the lesser earthquake. The
Richter scale was succeeded in the 1970s by the moment magnitude
scale. This is now the scale used by the United States Geological
Survey to estimate magnitudes for all modern large earthquakes.

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake.

Magnitude and
Intensity

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake.

Magnitude and
Intensity

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake.

Intensity

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake.

seismographic stations

Measuring of the size of an Earthquake.

Seismogram

Technological innovations that can be incorporated in

buildings to withstand the quake

Base Isolation Method

Base

isolation

systems

reduce

building

vibrations during earthquakes(Base Isolators).

Normally, a building is supported directly on
its foundation, and it is said to have a fixedbase (Base Isolators).
It introduces flexibility to the structures

Contn

During an earthquake, a fixed-base building can sway from side to

side. When a base isolation system is used, the sideways movement
occurs mainly in the bearings and the building does not move.
There are many types of bearings used for base isolation. Here are
illustration of the two..

 Lead rubber bearing

Rubber bearings are made from layers of rubber with thin steel plates
between them, and a thick steel plate on the top and bottom.
The bearings are placed between the bottom of a building and its
foundations .
The bearings are designed to be very stiff and strong for vertical load,
so that they can carry the weight of the building. However, they are
designed to be much weaker for horizontal loads, so that they can
move sideways during an earthquake.

 Friction Pendulum Bearings

Friction pendulum bearings are made from two horizontal steel plates that can
slide over each other because of their shape and an additional articulated slider.
During the earthquake, the building is free to slide both horizontally and
vertically and returns to its original position after the ground stops shaking

 Adding Dampers

Dampers can be installed in the structural frame of a building to absorb

some of the energy going into the building from the shaking ground during
an earthquake.
The dampers reduce the energy available for shaking the building by
absorbing part of the seismic energy which is to be transmitted in the
building hence acting like hydraulic shock absorbers in cars . This means
that the building deforms less, so the chance of damage is reduced.

Friction Dampers

Friction dampers are designed to have moving parts that will slide over
each other during a strong earthquake.
Energy is absorbed by surfaces with friction between them rubbing against
each other.
When the parts slide over each other, they create friction which uses some
of the energy from the earthquake that goes into the building.

Contn
The damper is made up from a set of steel plates, with slotted holes in them,
and they are bolted together. At high enough forces, the plates can slide
over each other creating friction.
The plates are specially treated to increase the friction between them.

 Metallic Dampers

Metallic dampers are usually made from steel.

They are designed to deform so much when the building vibrates
during an earthquake that they cannot return to their original shape.
This permanent deformation is called inelastic deformation, and it uses
some of the earthquake energy which goes into building.

 Viscous fluid dampers

Energy is absorbed by silicone-based fluid passing between piston

cylinder arrangement.
They are similar to shock absorbers in a car. They consist of a closed
cylinder containing a viscous fluid.
A piston rod is connected to a piston head with small holes in it. The
piston can move in and out of the cylinder. As it does this, the oil is
forced to flow through holes in the piston head causing friction.

Contn

The friction converts some of the earthquake energy going into the moving
building into heat energy.
The damper is usually installed as part of a building's bracing system using
single diagonals. As the building sways to and fro, the piston is forced in and out
of the cylinder.

 Horizontal Diaphragms
These are usually floors and roofs.
They are made up from a horizontal frame covered by a floor or
roof deck.
When a diaphragm is stiff enough in its horizontal plane, it can
share the sideways earthquake forces on a building between the
vertical structural members, such as the columns and walls.

 Vertical structural systems

Made up from columns, beams, walls and bracing.

They transfer the sideways forces on the building to the ground.
They include:
Braced frames
Moment resisting frames
Shear walls

Contn
Braced frames use trussing to resist sideways forces on buildings.
Trussing, or triangulation, is formed by inserting diagonal structural
members into rectangular areas of a structural frame.
It helps stabilize the frame against sideways forces from earthquakes and
strong winds.
Single diagonals
Cross-bracing
Other ways of bracing frames

Contn

In moment resisting frames, the joints, or connections, between

columns and beams are designed to be rigid
This causes the columns and beams to bend during earthquakes. So
these structural members are designed to be strong in bending.
Moment resisting frames simply means frames that resist forces by
bending.

Contn

Shear walls are vertical walls that are used to

stiffen the structural frames of buildings.
They help frames resist sideways earthquake
forces
The earthquake forces are transferred to the
ground mainly by shear forces in the walls
It is better to use walls with no openings in
them.
Usually the walls around lift shafts and
stairwells are used
Walls on the sides of buildings that have no
windows can be used.

LIGHT FRAME STRUCTURES

They usually gain seismic resistance

from rigid plywood shear walls and
wood structural panel diaphragm.
Collectors or drag struts also to
distribute shear along a diaphragm
length is required.

Conclusion
Since earthquakes are inevitable, each earth quake need not to convert into
a disaster.
Therefore as what comes in between is a culture of safety and prevention
since earthquakes do not kill but contribute to killing in destruction of
buildings.
Hence, the above are the technological innovations that can be
incorporated in the buildings as a preventive measure to their destruction in
the Albertan region; borrowing a leaf from japan.