Peter H. Laraba, Alvirne High School

PLATES

BOUNDARIES

Earthquakes

occur along plate

boundaries

SEISMIC

ACTIVITY

Stars indicate earthquake foci.A. Divergent –They are

Shallow and weak.B. Subduction – Deep

(down to 700 km) and very strong.

C. Convergent – Down to 300 km and sometimes strong.

D. Transform Fault – Down to 100 km and often strong.

EARTHQUAKES INPLATE MARGINS

An Earthquake is caused by sudden release

of elastic energy stored in rocks.

Elastic deformation: Any change

of shape or size that disappears

when the deforming forces are

removed.

The focus of an earthquake is the site of first

movement on a fault and the center of energy

release. The epicenter of an earthquake is the

point of the Earth's surface that lies vertically

above the focus.

When an earthquakeoccurs, the elasticallystored energy iscarried outward fromthe focus to otherparts of the Earth byvibrations. Thesevibrations are calledseismic waves andspread outspherically in alldirections, just assound waves do.

Body Waves: Travel outward in all directions

from the focus and have the capacity to travel

through the Earth's interior.

P (primary) waves -compression/expansion

S (secondary) waves - shear

Surface Waves: Travel around but not through

the Earth; they are guided by the Earth's surface.

SEISMIC WAVES

BODY WAVES

Body WaveP waves in motion

Body WaveS wave in motion

Surface WaveL wave in motion

TRAVEL

TIME

OF

SEISMIC

WAVES

REFRACTION

AND

REFLECTION

OF BODY

WAVES

TRAVEL PATHS OF DIRECT AND REFRACTED BODY WAVES

P waves are the fastest waveS waves are slightly slowerL waves are the slowest of the three waves

A highly simplified simulated recording of earthquake

waves (a seismogram). This seismogram is a simulation.

The actual records of earthquake waves are far more

complicated than what is presented here

The speed differences between waves are used to determine the distance away an earthquake is from the recording station.

A seismogram can not tell in what direction the earthquake occurred.

Seismologist use simple triangulation (math) to determine the epicenter of an earthquake.

LOCATING AN EPICENTER

The Richter magnitude scale is used to measure the strength of an earthquake. It assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. It is a base-10 logarithmic scale.

Developed in 1935 by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg.

Measuring Earthquake Magnitude

Magnitudes Effects

Less than 3.5 Generally not felt, but recorded

3.5-5.4 Often felt, but rarely causes damage

Under 6.0 At most slight damage to well-designed buildings. Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions.

6.1-6.9 Can be destructive in areas up to about 100 kilometers across where people live

7.0-7.9 Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage over larger areas

8 or greater Great earthquake. Can cause serious damage in areas several hundred kilometers across

The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale is commonly used in the United States by seismologists seeking information on the severity of earthquake effects. Intensity ratings are expressed as Roman numerals between I at the low end and XII at the high end.

The Intensity Scale differs from the Richter Scale in that the effects of any one earthquake vary greatly from place to place, so there may be many Intensity values (e.g.: IV, VII) measured from one earthquake

Measuring Earthquake Magnitude

I. People do not feel any Earth movement.

II. A few people might notice movement if they are at rest and/or on the upper floors of tall buildings.

III. Many people indoors feel movement. Hanging objects swing back and forth. People outdoors might not realize that an earthquake is occurring.

IV. Most people indoors feel movement. Hanging objects swing. Dishes, windows, and doors rattle. The earthquake feels like a heavy truck hitting the walls. A few people outdoors may feel movement. Parked cars rock.

V. Almost everyone feels movement. Sleeping people are awakened. Doors swing open or close. Dishes are broken. Pictures on the wall move. Small objects move or are turned over. Trees might shake. Liquids might spill out of open containers.

VII Everyone feels movement. People have trouble walking. Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall off walls. Furniture moves. Plaster in walls might crack. Trees and bushes shake. Damage is slight in poorly built buildings. No structural damage. People have difficulty standing. Drivers feel their cars shaking. Some furniture breaks. Loose bricks fall from buildings. Damage is slight to moderate in well- built buildings; considerable in poorly built buildings.

VIII. Drivers have trouble steering. Houses that are not bolted down might shift on their foundations. Tall structures such as towers and chimneys might twist and fall. Well-built buildings suffer slight damage. Poorly built structures suffer severe damage. Tree branches break. Hillsides might crack if the ground is wet. Water levels in wells might change.

IX. Well-built buildings suffer considerable damage. Houses that are not bolted down move off their foundations. Some underground pipes are broken. The ground cracks. Reservoirs suffer serious damage.

X. Most buildings and their foundations are destroyed. Some bridges are destroyed. Dams are seriously damaged. Large landslides occur. Water is thrown on the banks of canals, rivers, lakes. The ground cracks in large areas. Railroad tracks are bent slightly.

XI. Most buildings collapse. Some bridges are destroyed. Large cracks appear in the ground. Underground pipelines are destroyed. Railroad tracks are badly bent.

XII. Almost everything is destroyed. Objects are thrown into the air. The ground moves in waves or ripples. Large amounts of rock may move.

Earthquake hazards exist

throughout the United States

GREAT U.S. EARTHQUAKES

• New Madrid 1811 and 1812 Earthquakes

• The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake -

April 18, 1906 5:12 AM

• The great Alaska earthquake of 1964 – March

27,1964 5:36 p.m.

Although most Americans associate

earthquakes with California, the tremors

that shook the Mississippi valley in

southeast Missouri from December 16,

1811, through February 7, 1812, are

among the most violent quakes ever to hit

the North American continent in recorded

history. Collectively known as the New

Madrid earthquakes, these quakes affected

more than 1 million square miles.

1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes

Roman numerals indicate estimated Modified Mercalli intensities for a 6.5 magnitude earthquake.

The New Madrid seismic zone is so named because

the town of New Madrid, Missouri was the closest

settlement to the epicenters of the 1811-1812 quakes.

Isoseismal map

for the earthquake

of December

16,1811 (first of

the 1811-1812

New Madrid

series). Felt in

Washington &

Boston (causing

church bells to

ring).

Severe shaking accompanied the powerful New Madrid earthquakes. By winter's end, few houses within 250 miles of the Mississippi River town of New Madrid (Missouri) remained undamaged.

“On the morning of Monday, the 16th of December, 1811,

several shocks of earthquakes were felt at the city of

Washington. The first of these happened at three o'clock;

and in some houses was considerable enough to shake the

doors and windows, and wake persons from their sleep.

There were successive tremors. Tassels of curtains were

seen to move; and pitchers of washing-stands were heard to

rattle upon their basins. The sound was very distinguishable,

and was believed by many to pass from southwest to

northeast. The alarm was so great in some families, that

searches were made from room to room, to discover the

robbers who were imagined to have broken into the houses.”

A Detailed Narrative of the Earthquakes which occurred on the 16th day of December, 1811 Samuel L. Mitchill

The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

The quake lasted only a minute but caused

the worst natural disaster in the nation's

history. Modern analysis estimates it

registered 8.25 on the Richter scale. The

greatest destruction came from the fires the

quake ignited. These ravaged the city for three

days before burning themselves out.

This photograph by Arnold Genthe shows

Sacramento Street and approaching fire.

The Great fire as seen from a ferry boat in the bay

Refugees search for souvenirs on sidewalk in front of the Stanford mansion on Powell Street at California.

This photograph, taken from a tethered balloon five weeks after the great earthquake

The quake awoke G.A. Raymond as he slept in his room at the Palace Hotel. This is an excerpt from his description of

escape.

“How I reached the ferry I cannot say. It was

bedlam, pandemonium and hell rolled into one.

There must have been 10,000 people trying to

get on that boat. Men and women fought like

wildcats to push their way aboard.”

The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964

The Alaskan earthquake of 1964 was the

largest earthquake in North America and the

second largest ever recorded (largest occurred

in Chile in 1960). The strong ground motion

reported in the Anchorage area lasted about 4-

5 minutes which triggered many avalanches,

landslides and tsunamis.

The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964

The 1964 earthquake caused 115 deaths in

Alaska alone, with 106 of these due to

tsunamis which were generated by tectonic

uplift of the sea floor, and by localized

subareal and submarine landslides.

The Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964

Tsunamis generated by the 1964 earthquake

(and their subsequent damage, loss of life,

etc.) were recorded throughout the Pacific.

This was the most disastrous tsunami to hit

the U.S. West Coast and British Columbia in

Canada. The largest wave height for this

tsunami was reported at Shoup Bay, Valdez

Inlet (67 meters)

PHOTOGRAPHS OF DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH THE 1964 ALASKA EARTHQUAKE

Government Hill Elementary School in Anchorage was one of many schools severely damaged by quake-triggered landslides.

These thick trees near Port Valdez splintered into pieces against the force of massive tsunami waves.

Secondary Effects

Most of the damage done by earthquakes is due

to their secondary effects, those not directly

caused by fault movement, but resulting instead

from the propagation of seismic waves away from

the fault rupture. Secondary effects result from

the very temporary passage of seismic waves,

but can occur over very large regions, causing

wide-spread damage.

Secondary Effects

• Natural - Landslides/mudflow

  - Liquifaction - Subsidence - Tsunamis

Man-made- Dam failures - Secondary fires

Earthquake induced landslide - Madison River, Montana, 1959 - 80 million tons of rock released as a result of the quake- River was dammed creating Quake Lake

Landslides/mudflow

Liquifaction Flow of material, particularly that with a high H2O content

Ejection of sand-slurry through overlying soil etc. Causes sand volcanoes, destroys crop land, disrupts underground utilities, weakens building foundations

• Tsunamis

- small amplitude, long wavelength in

open ocean

- speed ~ 350-500 mph

        - near shore the waves begin to break

and the enormous quantity of water

“piles up”

       - breaking wave may be 15 - 65 m high

- Aleutian Islands, 1946; 10 hours later

hits Hawaii

Locations of past tsunamis around the world

The earliest description of a tsunami-type wave comes from 479 B.C. in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Similar waves have been reported worldwide, though they are more common in the Pacific, with its earthquake-prone perimeter.

Photo Credits

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/visualgeology/geology101/seis_frames.htm

http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs017-03/

http://vflylab.calstatela.edu/VirtualEarthquake/VQuakeExecute.html

http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/office/hough/mitchill.html

http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/spring1996/bagnall.htm

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/sfeq.htm

http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/photos.html

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/info/1906/

http://wcatwc.gov/64quake.htm

http://www.disasterrelief.org/Disasters/010326alaskaquake1964/

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/prepare/factsheets/NewMadrid/Woodcut.gif

http://www.liquefaction.com/

http://cwis.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/index.html