Lesson 1.

Earthquake
Epicenters
 define fault, earthquake,
1
and epicenter;
At the end of
the lesson, learn location of major
you should 2 faults in the Philippines;
and
be able to:
describe the seismic
3
activities in the country.
Earthquakes
• Earthquakes occur when rocks in the lithosphere
rupture or move in order to release accumulated
energy and stress.

• Faults are breaks in Earth’s crust where rocks

move or slide past one another. There should be
an apparent displacement for a break or a
fracture for it to be considered as a fault.
Parts of an Earthquake
• The surface where the
slip occurs is called a
fault plane.

• The location below

Earth’s surface where
the earthquake
originate is called a Parts of an earthquake
hypocenter.
Parts of an Earthquake
• The surface directly
above the hypocenter is
the epicenter.

• Most of the time, it is

the area where the
greatest damage takes
place during
earthquakes. Parts of an earthquake
Measures in Describing the Strength of
an Earthquake
Intensity
• It is the measure of the degree of shaking
experienced in an area.

Magnitude
• It is a quantitative measurement that relies
on the data from seismic records along with
other techniques to estimate the amount of
the energy released.
Faults in the Philippines
• Located in the Eastern
part of the country are
the East Luzon Trough
and Philippine Trench.

• The western region has

the Manila Trench,
Negros Trench, Sulu
Trench, and Cotabato
Active faults in the
Trench. Philippines
Faults in the Philippines
• The Philippine
Fault or Philippine
Fault Zone (PFZ), is
a 1 200-km fault
zone cutting almost
the whole
archipelago.
Active faults in the
Philippines
Faults in the Philippines
• Aside from the Philippine Fault Zone, there are
also other active faults in the country, namely:
● Valley Fault System or ● Legaspi Lineament,
Marikina Valley Fault,
● Macolod Corridor, ● Tablas Lineament,
● Lubang-Verde Passage ● Mindanao Fault and,
Fault System,
● Mindoro or Aglubang ● Offshore Cebu-Bohol
Fault, faults.
● Sibuyan Sea Fault,
 Seismic Activity in the
Philippines
• Historical accounts of
earthquakes only started
during the Spanish
colonization in the late
15th century.

• The instrumentally-
derived parameters for
earthquakes started in
1892 onwards. Seismicity of the Philippines
from 1990 to 2006.
 Seismic Activity in the
Philippines
• The distribution of
strong
earthquakes in
the Philippines is
shown in the
figure.

Distribution of large earthquakes in the

Philippines.
Seismic Activity in the
Philippines
• Casiguran Aurora,
Ragay Gulf,
Mindanao, Panay,
and Nueva, Ecija
are areas in the
Philippines where
the strongest
earthquakes
occurred with
magnitude < 7.9 Distribution of large earthquakes in the Philippines.
 An earthquake is the shaking of Earth’ surface
1 resulted from the sudden release of energy due to
the movement of tectonic plates

The point in Earth’s surface where the earthquake

2 originate is called a hypocenter. It is also commonly
known as focus.

3 Directly above the hypocenter located at the surface

is the epicenter.
Write true if the statement is correct.
Otherwise, write false.
1. The hypocenter is located at the top of the epicenter.
2. The instrumentally-derived parameters for
earthquakes started in 1892.
3. The hypocenter and epicenter are the same.
4. The most destructive earthquake—having a
magnitude of 7.9—occurred in Luzon.
5. The Intensity of an earthquake is observed through
seismological instruments.
What are the
possible effects if
an earthquake with
magnitude 7.0 hits
Metro Manila?