EARTHQUAKE

MEASURES
CEQUAKE430-E41
GROUP 3
 Earthquake Measures
Earthquake measures quantify the size and effect of earthquakes. The size of an
earthquake is measured by the amount of energy released at the source, its
magnitude, whereas the effect of an earthquake at different locations is measured by
its intensity at a specific site.
INTENSITY AND MAGNITUDE
INTENSITY
INTENSITY

 Intensity is a non‐instrumental perceptibility measure of damage to structures,

ground surface effects, for example fractures, cracks and landslides and human
reactions to earthquake shaking
 Intensity scales are based on human feelings and observations of the effect of
ground motion on natural and man-made objects.
 Discrete scales are used to quantify seismic intensity; the levels are represented by
Roman numerals and each degree of intensity provides a qualitative description of
earthquake effects.
COMMON INTENSITY SCALES:
 Mercalli–Cancani–Seiberg (MCS): 12‐level scale used in Southern Europe.
 Modified Mercalli (MM): 12‐level scale proposed in 1931 by Wood and
Neumann, who adapted the MCS scale to the California data set. It is used in
North America and several other countries.
 Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik (MSK): 12‐level scale developed in Central and
Eastern Europe and used in several other countries.
 European Macroseismic Scale (EMS): 12‐level scale adopted since 1998 in
Europe. It is a development of the MM scale.
 Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA): 7‐level scale used in Japan. It has been
revised over the years and has recently been correlated to maximum horizontal
acceleration of the ground.
 Comparison between seismic intensity scales.
MODIFIED MERCALLI SCALE
 I. Not felt except under exceptionally favorable circumstances.
 II. Felt by persons at rest.
 III. Felt indoors; may not be recognized as an earthquake.
 IV. Windows, dishes and doors disturbed; standing motor cars rock noticeably.
 V. Felt outdoors; sleepers wakened; doors swung.
 VI. Felt by all; walking unsteady; windows and dishes broken.
 VII. Difficult to stand; noticed by drivers; fall of plaster.
 VIII: Steering of motor cars affected; damage to ordinary masonry.
 IX. General panic; weak masonry destroyed, ordinary masonry heavily damaged.
 X. Most masonry and frame structures destroyed with foundations; rails bent slightly.
 XI. Rails bent greatly; underground pipes broken.
 XII. Damage total; objects thrown into the air.
 Isoseismal Map of Moro Gulf earthquake – August 17, 1976

Intensity VII: Cotabato City; Jolo-Sulu; Zamboanga City

Intensity VI: Basilan City; Pagadian City; Dipolog City; Malaybalay-Bukidnon
Intensity V: Cagayan de Oro City; Davao City; General Santos City
Intensity IV: Dumaguete City; Hinatuan Surigao del Sur; Tagbilaran-Bohol: Cebu
City; Surigao- Surigao del Norte
Intensity II: Roxas City; Iloilo City; Tacloban City; Legaspi City; Palo-Leyte;
Catbalogan-Samar

Intensity scales are used to plot contour lines of equal intensity or ‘isoseismals’.
Intensity maps provide approximate distributions of damage and the extent of ground
shaking.
MAGNITUDE
MAGNITUDE

 Magnitude is a quantitative measure of earthquake size and fault dimensions. It is

based on the maximum amplitudes of body or surface seismic waves. It is
therefore an instrumental, quantitative and objective scale.
COMMON MAGNITUDE SCALES:

 Local (or Richter) magnitude (ML)

 Body wave magnitude (mb)
 Surface wave magnitude (MS)
 Moment magnitude (MW)
Local (or Richter) magnitude (ML)

 measures the maximum seismic wave amplitude “A” (in microns) recorded on
standard Wood–Anderson seismographs located at a distance of 100 km from the
earthquake epicenter. The standard Wood–Anderson seismograph has a natural
period of 0.8 seconds, a critical damping ratio of 0.8 and an amplification factor
of 2800. It amplifies waves with periods between approximately 0.5 and 1.5
seconds, that is wavelengths of 500 m to 2 km. Magnitude ML is related to A by
the following relationship:

where A0 is a calibration factor that

depends on distance (Richter, 1958).
 The earthquake may be described in general terms according to the value of ML as
follows:

ML = 1 to 2: Earthquake is barely noticeable.

ML < 5: Earthquake is not expected to cause structural damage.
ML > 5: Earthquake is expected to cause structural damage.
ML = 8, 9: Earthquake causes the most structural damage recorded.
Body wave magnitude (mb)

 measures the amplitude of P‐waves with a period of about 1.0 second, that is less
than 10 km wavelengths. This scale is suitable for deep earthquakes which have
few surface waves. Moreover, mb can measure distant events, for example
epicentral distances not less than 600 km. Furthermore, P‐waves are not affected
by the depth of energy source. Magnitude mb is related to the amplitude A and
period T of P‐waves as follows:

in which σ(Δ) is a function of the

epicenter distance Δ (in degrees).
Surface wave magnitude (MS)
 is a measure of the amplitudes of LR‐waves with a period of 20 seconds, that is
wavelength of about 60 km, which are common for very distant earthquakes, for
example where the epicentre is located at more than 2000 km. MS is used for
large earthquakes. However, it cannot be used to characterise deep or relatively
small, regional earthquakes. The relationship between amplitude A, period T,
distance Δ and MS is given by:

where Δ is measured in degrees, the

ground motion amplitude in microns
and the period
in seconds. Equation is applicable for
Δ > 15°.
Moment magnitude (MW)
 accounts for the mechanism of shear that takes place at earthquake sources. It is
not related to any wavelength. As a result, Mw can be used to measure the whole
spectrum of ground motions. Moment magnitude is defined as a function of the
seismic moment M0. This measures the extent of deformation at the earthquake
source and can be evaluated as follows:

in which G is the shear modulus of the material surrounding the fault, A is the fault rupture area and
Δu is the average slip between opposite sides of the fault. The modulus G can be assumed to be 32
000 MPa in the crust and 75 000 MPa in the mantle. Mw is thus given by:
INSTRUMENTS SCALE
Instrumental Scale

 Structural engineers need a quantitative measure that can be used in analysis and
design. This measure is provided in an accelerogram, which is a record of the
ground acceleration versus time.
The sample accelerogram record of the
famous El Centro Earthquake that
occurred on May 1940, killing nine
people and damaging 80 percent of the
buildings in Imperial, California. The
accelerogram contains important
parameters of the earthquake, such as
peak ground acceleration (PGA), total
duration and length of continuous pulses.
The accelerogram can be mathematically
analyzed to obtain other important
parameters of an earthquake, such as Seismograph works on the concept of relative
frequency content, peak ground velocity, measurement.
peak ground displacement and power When we measure any kind of non-seismic
spectral density. displacement or acceleration, we have a stationary
frame of reference, i.e. the earth itself. So, whatever
acceleration we measure against the stationary earth
is known as absolute acceleration.
 INSTRUMENTS USED TO
DETERMINE A SEISMOGRAPH
 INSTRUMENTS USED TO MEASURE
MAGNITUDE
Richter Scale
The Richter scale is a numerical value
used to measure the power or magnitude
of earthquakes.
Vertical Seismograph
Drum-style vertical seismograph
station records up-and-down movement.
The suspended mass remains at rest as
the spring absorbs some of the motion.
Horizontal
Seismograph
 its recording stylus records differs in
motion where as the horizontal
seismograph shown here moves only in
the horizontal plane.
 SOURCES

 Earthquake-Engineering-Theory-and-Implementation-Second-Edition.pdf
 [Di_Sarno,_Luigi;_Elnashai,_Amr_S]_Fundamentals_of_Earthquake_Engineerin
g.pdf

 http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/education/faqs/faq17.html#:~:text=Magnitude
%20is%20a%20measure%20of,distance%20from%20the%20earthquake%20epic
entre
.
 http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/education/faqs/faq17.html#:~:text=Magnitude
%20is%20a%20measure%20of,distance%20from%20the%20earthquake%20epic
entre
.