FAILURE OF FOUNDATION DUE TO

EARTHQUAKE
 INTRODUCTION
• An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the
earth’s crust that creates seismic waves.
• The seismicity, seismism 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 observation from
seismometers.
• A foundation is the element of an architectural structure which is
used to transfer the loads from super-structure to soil
• Failure in foundation may occur due to earthquakes(vibration of
earth)
 TYPES OF EARTHQUAKES
There are three types of earthquakes
• Tectonic
• Volcanic
• Collapse & exploration
Tectonic:
• These occur when rocks in the earth’s crust break due to geological
forces created by movement of tectonic plates
Volcanic:
• Occurs usually after a volcanic activity has takes place.The magma
that comes out during an earthquake leaves a place,to fill the space
left by the magma the rocks move towards the space to fill it in,
causing severe earthquake
Collapse & exploration:

Collapse:
• These are the small earthquakes in underground cavers and mines
Exploration:
• These results from the explosion of nuclear and chemical devices we
can measure motion from large tectonic earthquakes using GPS
because rocks on either side of a fault are offset during this type of
earthquake
Types of foundations:
• Shallow foundation
• A shallow foundation is a type of building foundation that transfers
building loads to the earth very near to the surface, rather than to a
subsurface layer or a range of depths as does a deep foundation.
• Deep foundation
• A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building
loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a
shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths.
Failure of foundation:
Failure in foundation can be due to various reasons such as:
• Lateral movement of soil
• Unequal settlement of the masonry
• Action of atmosphere
• Lateral escape of the soil below the foundation
SESMIC WAVES OF EARTHQUAKES
• Earthquakes radiate seismic energy as both body and surface waves.
Traveling through the interior of the earth, body waves arrive before
the surface waves emitted by anearthquake. These waves are of a
higher frequency than surface waves. The first kind of body wave is
the P wave or primary wave.
Classification of seismic waves
• On the basis of earthquake wave nature
• they are classified as
• Primary waves(p-waves)
• Secondary waves(s-waves)
• Love waves(l-waves)
• 1.Primary waves:
• It is one of the two main types of elastic body waves called seismic
waves in seismology.p-waves travel faster than other seismic waves and
hence are the first signal from an earthquake to arrive at any affected
location or at a seismograph.p-waves may be transmitted through
gases,liquids or solids.
2. Secondary waves:
• Secondary waves or shear waves are a type of elastic wave and are one
of the two main types of elastic body waves so named because they
move through the body of an object unlike surface waves
3.Love waves:
• The love wave is a result of the interference of many shear waves
guided by an elastic layer which is welded to an elastic half space on
one side while bordering a vacuum on the other sude
EARTHQUAKE EFFECT ON FOUNDATION
• The violent shaking of an earthquake can quickly damage homes,
building and bridges. The most noticeable damage appears in the wall
or roof of building, but building foundation are also effected by the
earth’s sudden movement. How an earthquake effect foundation?
• When an earthquake begins, the earth can lunch with sudden jolts or
roll with several waves. A sudden lunch does little to the foundation
itself, however, the walls of a building can quickly shift off the
foundation.
• The foundation moves with the earth back and forth, but the wall are
slow to follow and literally break apart at the seams. Even after the
ground and also roll during an earthquake. Major damage to a
foundation is often identified and fixed soon after an earthquake, but
attention should also be given to small cracks that can develop into
larger problem over time.