ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)

Unit - IV
Earthquakes
 Causes and Classifications
• Seismic waves, intensity and magnitude
• Seismic zones of India
• Geological Considerations
Underground Water
• Sources, Aquifers, Artesian wall
• Groundwater Provinces of India
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Seismic waves)
Definition:
The strain energy released by
an earthquake sets up several
types of wave motions at the
focus. These waves thus formed
are seismic waves which travels
in all directions in different
paths, modes and speed
proportional to the densities of
material through which they
travels
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)

SEISMIC WAVES

SURFACE WAVES
BODY WAVES
• travels across the
• travels through
surface of earth
interior of earth
• Based on particle
• Based on particle
motion divided
motion divided
into Love-waves
into S-wave and
and Rayleigh-
P-waves
waves
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
BODY WAVES: (S-waves and P-waves)
• Travel through the interior of the Earth along paths controlled by
the material properties in terms of density and modulus
(stiffness).
• The density and modulus, in turn, vary according to temperature,
composition, and material phase.
SURFACE WAVES: (Love-waves and Rayleigh waves)
• Surface waves travel along the Earth's surface.
• Surface waves decay more slowly with distance than body
waves, which travel in three dimensions.
• Particle motion of surface waves is larger than that of body
waves, so surface waves tend to cause more damage.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
PRIMARY WAVES: (P-waves/ Push-pull waves)
• Primary waves (P-waves) are compressional waves that are
longitudinal in nature.
• P-waves are pressure waves that travel faster than other waves
through the earth to arrive at seismograph stations first, hence the
name "Primary".
• These waves can travel through any type of material, including
fluids, and can travel nearly 1.7 times faster than the S-waves
• In air, they take the form of sound waves, hence they travel at the
speed of sound.
• Typical speeds are 330 m/s in air, 1450 m/s in water and about
5000 m/s in granite.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
PRIMARY WAVES: (P-waves/ Push-pull waves)

Direction of propagation of
wave

Direction of particle motion

Particle motion is in direction

parallel to wave propagation
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
SECONDARY WAVES: (S-waves/ Shear waves)
• Secondary waves (S-waves) are shear waves that are transverse
in nature
• Following an earthquake event, S-waves arrive at seismograph
stations after the faster-moving P-waves and displace the ground
perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
• S-waves can travel only through solids, as fluids (liquids and
gases) do not support shear stresses.
• S-waves are slower than P-waves, and speeds are typically
around 60% of that of P-waves in any given material.
• Shear waves can't travel through any liquid medium, so the
absence of S-wave in earth's outer core suggests a liquid state.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
SECONDARY WAVES: (S-waves/ Shear waves)

Direction of propagation of
wave

Direction of particle motion

Particle motion is in direction
vertically perpendicular to
wave propagation
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
LOVE WAVES:
• Named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who worked
out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911.
• It's the fastest surface wave and moves the ground from side-to-
side.
• Confined to the surface of the crust, Love waves produce entirely
horizontal motion.
• Love waves are horizontally polarized shear waves (SH waves),
existing only in the presence of a semi-infinite medium overlain
by an upper layer of finite thickness.
• They usually travel slightly faster than Rayleigh waves, about
90% of the S wave velocity, and have the largest amplitude.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
LOVE WAVES:

Direction of propagation of
wave

Direction of particle motion

Particle motion is in direction
horizontally perpendicular to
wave propagation
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
RAYLEIGH WAVES:
• Rayleigh waves, also called ground roll, are surface waves that
travel as ripples with motions that are similar to those of waves
on the surface of water.
• It moves the ground up and down, and side-to-side in the same
direction that the wave is moving.
• The existence of these waves was predicted by John William
Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, in 1885.
• They are slower than body waves, roughly 90% of the velocity of
S waves for typical homogeneous elastic media.
• Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the
Rayleigh wave, which can be much larger than the other waves.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)
RAYLEIGH WAVES:

Direction of propagation of
wave

Direction of particle motion

Particle motion is rolling in
direction horizontally and vertically
perpendicular to wave propagation
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
Earthquake (Types of Seismic waves)

ACTIVITY FOR STUDENTS:

• Find the animation videos for particle motion of each type of
seismic waves to analyze the wave propagation patterns.
• Arrange the different seismic waves in increasing order of their
velocity in a given medium.
• What is the relation between velocity of seismic waves and
density of medium in which it is travelling?