Earthquakes

Bell-ringer: How do we know where plate boundaries are

located?

Forces Within Earth

Stress: total force acting on crustal rock per unit of area.
Strain: the deformation of materials in response to
stress.
Elastic Deformation: material is compressed bent or stretched
Plastic Deformation: permanent deformation

Types of Strain

Faults
Reverse: compression causes
horizontal and vertical movement.
Normal: tension causes horizontal
and vertical movement.
Strike-slip: shear causes horizontal
movement

Causes of Earthquakes

Bell-ringer: What causes an earthquake?

Causes
Energy builds up in the rock
until it suddenly releases and
breaks
Elastic Rebound Hypothesis

Generation Points

Focus: where the waves originates

Epicenter: the earths surface directly
above the focus

Earthquake Waves
Seismic Waves: vibration of the ground produced
during an earthquake.

Earthquake Waves
Primary (P-waves): move rocks in the direction
along which the waves are traveling.

Earthquake Waves
Secondary (S-waves): rocks move at right
angles in relation to the direction of the wave.
Theyre slower than P-waves.

Earthquake Waves
Surface:
slowest
most destruction
along the Earths
surface causing it to
move sideways as well
as up and down.

Earthquake waves

earthsci8.wikispaces.com

Measurements

Earthquake Waves

Measurements
Seismometers: measure
vibrations that would not
normally be felt
Seismogram: produced by
seismometer

Measuring and Locating Earthquakes

Magnitude and Intensity

Richter Scale
Moment Magnitude Scale
Modified Mercalli Scale

Richter Scale
Measures the energy of the largest seismic wave
(magnitude)
The numbers indicate the height of the wave
(amplitude)
Each increase in magnitude is a 32-fold increase
A magnitude 8 earthquake releases about 32x the
amount of energy of a magnitude 7 earthquake

Moment Magnitude Scale

Most commonly used scale on the news
Measures the energy released by an earthquake
by looking at:
The size of the fault rupture
The amount of movement along the fault
The rocks stiffness

Modified Mercalli Scale

Measures the effects and damage of the
earthquake
Uses Roman numerals I-XII (the higher the number
the worse the damage)

Earthquake Hazards

Bell-ringer: what are some hazards

associated with earthquakes?

Seismic Shaking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G5p8o-x_vg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duoS7hwJlrU

Liquefaction
Stable soil turns into liquid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0sLyJpfTE8

Landslide/Mudflows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbvrmwatBs

Tsunamis

https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0YOXVlPUu4

Earthquake Forecasting
Seismic Gaps: sections along faults that are known to be active, but
have not experienced earthquakes for a significant period of time.
Stress Accumulation
Recurrence Rates: along a fault earthquakes can occur in regular
intervals
Seismic risk: much greater risk along seismic belt