Earthquake

Prepared by
Rifat Talha Khan
Lecturer
Department of Water Resources Engineering
Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology
Fig.: A Haitian girl stands amid the rubble of a destroyed building following the 7.0
magnitude earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 12, 2010.
(Photo by Orlando Barria/Corbis)
 What is an Earthquake?
• Earthquakes are natural geologic phenomena caused
by the sudden and rapid movement of a large volume
of rock.
• The violent shaking and destruction caused by
earthquakes are the result of rupture and slippage
along fractures in Earth’s crust called faults.
• The origin of an earthquake occurs at depths between
5 and 700 kilometers, at the focus.
• The point at the surface directly above the focus is
called the epicenter
Earthquake Epicenter & Focus
 Earthquake Epicenter & Focus
• The focus is the zone within Earth where the
initial displacement occurs. The origin of an
earthquake occurs at depths between 5 and 700
kilometers, at the focus.
• The point at the surface directly above the
focus is called the epicenter.
Causes of Earthquake: Elastic Rebound Theory
Causes of Earthquake: Elastic Rebound Theory

• The elastic rebound theory of earthquake was

formulated by H. F. Reid of Johns Hopkins
University during a study following the great 1906
San Francisco earthquake.
• Tectonic stresses acting over tens to hundreds of
years slowly deform the crustal rocks on both sides of
a fault.
• When deformed by differential stress, rocks bend and
store elastic energy, much like a wooden stick does if
bent.
Causes of Earthquake: Elastic Rebound Theory

• Eventually, the frictional resistance holding the rocks

in place is overcome.
• Slippage allows the deformed (strained) rock to “snap
back” to its original, stress-free shape.
• The “springing back” was termed elastic rebound by
Reid because the rock behaves elastically, much like
a stretched rubber band does when it is released.
• The vibrations we know as an earthquake are
generated by the rock elastically returning to its
original shape.
 Aftershocks and Foreshocks
• Strong earthquakes are followed by numerous smaller
tremors, called aftershocks, that gradually diminish in
frequency and intensity over a period of several
months.
• Although aftershocks are weaker than the main
earthquake, they can trigger the destruction of already
weakened structures.
• In contrast to aftershocks, small earthquakes called
foreshocks often precede a major earthquake by days
or in some cases years.
• Monitoring of foreshocks to predict forthcoming
earthquakes has been attempted with limited success.
Detecting an Earthquake
 Detecting an Earthquake
• Seismographs are instruments that can record
and measure earthquake waves.
• Seismographs have a weight freely suspended
from a support that is securely attached to
bedrock.
• When vibrations from an earthquake reach the
instrument, the inertia of the weight keeps it
relatively stationary while Earth and the
support move.
 Detecting an Earthquake
• To detect very weak earthquakes, or a great
earthquake that has occurred in another part of
the world, most seismographs are designed to
amplify ground motion. Other instruments are
designed to withstand the violent shaking that
occurs very near the focus.
• The records obtained from seismographs,
called seismograms, provide useful
information about the nature of seismic waves.
 Seismic Waves
• Seismograms reveal that two main groups of
seismic waves are generated by the slippage of
a rock mass:
1. Surface Waves
2. Body Waves
 Body Waves
• Richard Dixon Oldham, a British Geologist
and Seismologist recognized the body waves
in early seismology
• Propagate through the interior of the earth.
• Follow ray paths refracted by the varying
density and modulus stiffness of the Earth's
interior
ü First kind of body waves
ü Longitudinal waves
ü Push and pull the rock
ü Velocity 300 m/sec in air; 300-1000 m/s in soil and 5 km/s in
solid rock.
ü High frequency
ü Travel through the solids, liquids and gases
üTransverse wave
üMoves rock up and down, or side-to-side
ü Earth vibrating perpendicularly to the direction of the wave travel
üTravel only through solids
üVelocity approximately 5.2 km/sec;
üArrives after P-waves
üReduced frequency
• First kind of surface wave
• Named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who worked out
the mathematical model for this kind of wave
• Fastest surface wave and moves the ground from side-to-side
• Confined to the surface of the crust
• Velocity approximately 2 -4.4 km/sec
• Predicted by John William Strutt & Lord Rayleigh in 1885
• Rolls along the ground just like a wave rolls across a lake or an
ocean.
• Moves the ground up and down and side-to-side in the same
direction that the wave is moving
• Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the Rayleigh
wave
 Locating the Source of an Earthquake
• The method used for locating an earthquake’s
epicenter relies on the fact that P waves travel
faster than S waves.
• The greater the interval between the arrival of
the first P wave and the arrival of the first S
wave, the greater the distance to the epicenter.
Typical seismogram. Note the time Simplified seismograms of the same
interval (about 5 minutes) between the earthquake recorded in three different
arrival of the first P wave and the cities. A. Nagpur, India. B. Darwin,
arrival of the first S wave. Australia. C. Paris, France.
A travel-time graph is used to determine the distance to an earthquake epicenter. The
difference in arrival time between the first P wave and the first S wave in the example is
5 minutes. Thus, the epicenter is roughly 3400 kilometers (2100 miles) away.
Determining an earthquake epicenter using the distances obtained from three or
more seismic stations—a method called triangulation.
 Measurement of Earthquake
• Two measures may be applied to describe the
size of an earthquake:
i. Intensity:
Ø a measure of the degree of earthquake shaking at a
given locale based on observed effects.
Ø Several scales exist, but the ones most commonly
used in the United States are the Modified Mercalli
scale and the Rossi-Forel scale.
 Modified Mercalli Scale
Scale Observed effects
I Not felt except by a very few under especially favorable circumstances.
II Felt only by a few persons at rest, especially on upper floors of buildings.
III Felt quite noticeably indoors, especially on upper floors of buildings, but many people do not
recognize it as an earthquake.
IV During the day felt indoors by many, outdoors by few. Sensation like heavy truck striking building.

V Felt by nearly everyone, many awakened. Disturbances of trees, poles, and other tall objects
sometimes noticed.
VI Felt by all; many frightened and run outdoors. Some heavy furniture moved; few instances of fallen
plaster or damaged chimneys. Damage slight.
VII Everybody runs outdoors. Damage negligible in buildings of good design and construction; slight to
moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable in poorly built or badly designed structures.

VIII Damage slight in specially designed structures; considerable in ordinary substantial buildings with
partial collapse; great in poorly built structures. (Fall of chimneys, factory stacks, columns,
monuments, walls.)
IX Damage considerable in specially designed structures. Buildings shifted off foundations. Ground
cracked conspicuously.
X Some well-built wooden structures destroyed. Most masonry and frame structures destroyed. Ground
badly cracked.
XI Few, if any, (masonry) structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Broad fissures in ground.
 Measurement of Earthquake
ii. Magnitude:
ØThe quantitative measurement of earthquake by
estimating the amount of energy released at an
earthquake’s source, based on data gleaned from
seismic records is called magnitude of an earthquake.
ØRichter Scale and Moment Magnitude Scale are the two
scales widely used.
 Richter Scale
• The Richter magnitude scale (often shortened to
Richter scale) is the most common standard of
measurement for earthquakes.
• It was invented in 1935 by Charles F. Richter of the
California Institute of Technology as a mathematical
device to compare the size of earthquakes.
• The Richter scale is used to rate the magnitude of an
earthquake, that is the amount of energy released
during an earthquake.
 Richter Scale
• Richter scale is based on the amplitude of the largest
seismic wave (P, S, or surface wave) recorded on a
seismogram.
• Because seismic waves weaken as the distance
between the focus and the seismograph increases,
Richter developed a method that accounts for the
decrease in wave amplitude with increasing distance.
• Theoretically, as long as equivalent instruments are
used, monitoring stations at various locations will
obtain the same Richter magnitude for each recorded
earthquake.
Richter Scale
 Richter Scale Formula
• Richter scale measure of the magnitude of the
earthquake using the formula:
R=log(A/A0)
Where,
A=the measure of the amplitude of the earthquake wave
A0=the amplitude of the smallest detectable wave
(or standard wave)
Problem:
An earthquake is measured with a wave amplitude 392 times
as great as A0. What is the magnitude of this earthquake using
the Richter scale, to the nearest tenth?
 Richter Scale
• Richter used a logarithmic scale to express magnitude, in which a tenfold increase
in wave amplitude corresponds to an increase of 1 on the magnitude scale. Thus,
the degree of ground shaking for a 5-magnitude earthquake is 10 times greater than
that produced by an earthquake having a Richter magnitude of 4.
• In addition, each unit of Richter magnitude equates to roughly a 32-fold energy
increase.
• Thus, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 releases 32 times more energy than
one with a magnitude of 5.5, and roughly 1000 times (32x32) more energy than a
4.5-magnitude quake.
• the amount of energy released by the earthquake is related to the Richter Scale by
the following equation:
Log E = 11.8 + 1.5 M
(where Log refers to the logarithm to the base 10, E is the energy
released in ergs and M the Richter magnitude).
• Despite its usefulness, the Richter scale is not adequate for describing very large
earthquakes.
• For example, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Alaskan earthquake
had roughly the same Richter magnitudes. However, based on the relative size of
the affected areas and the associated tectonic changes, the Alaskan earthquake
released considerably more energy than the San Francisco quake. As a result, the
Richter scale is said to be saturated for major earthquakes because it cannot
 Moment Magnitude
• In recent years, seismologists have come to favor a
newer measure called moment magnitude (M W ),
which determines the strain energy released along the
entire fault surface.
• Because moment magnitude estimates the total
energy released, it is better for measuring or
describing very large earthquakes.
• Moment magnitude can be calculated from geologic
fieldwork by measuring the average amount of slip
on the fault, the area of the fault surface that slipped,
and the strength of the faulted rock.
 Destruction from Earthquakes
• Destruction from Seismic Vibrations:
Ø As the energy released by an earthquake travels along Earth’s
surface, it causes the ground to vibrate in a complex manner by
moving up and down as well as from side to side. The amount of
damage to man-made structures attributable to the vibrations
depends on several factors, including
i. the intensity and
ii. the duration of the shaking,
iii. the nature of the material upon which the structure rests, and
iv. the nature of building materials and the construction practices
of the region.
 Destruction from Earthquakes
• Amplification of Seismic Waves
ØAlthough the region near the epicenter will
experience about the same intensity of ground
shaking, destruction may vary considerably within
this area. Such differences are usually attributable
to the nature of the ground on which the structures
are built. Soft sediments, for example, generally
amplify the vibrations more than solid bedrock.
 Destruction from Earthquakes
• Liquefaction
ØIn areas where unconsolidated materials are
saturated with water, earthquake vibrations can
turn stable soil into a mobile fluid, a phenomenon
known as liquefaction. As a result, the ground is
not capable of supporting buildings, and
underground storage tanks and sewer lines may
literally float toward the surface.
 Destruction from Earthquakes: Liquefaction

Effects of liquefaction. This building rested on unconsolidated sediment that

behaved like quicksand during the 1985 Mexican earthquake.
(Photo by James L. Beck)
Pile supported building in ONAGAWA area were uprooted ! ! ! !
 16m
8.4m
To p p l e d a n d c a r r i e d
sideways over 20m
distance
12m
 RC building carried 70m
away from its original
location, and lying west-
facecarried
RC building down . away
70m
from its original location, and
lying west-face down.

pulled 3m up
pulled 3m up

Rem ai n Remaining
ing PC
P C p i lpiles
e shalf
half pulled
pulled up
up
 5.6 m 4.05m-long PC
piles pulled-up

Embedded pile head

5.6 m

Konagai K., 2012

 Destruction from Earthquakes
• Landslides and Ground Subsidence:
ØThe greatest damage to structures is often caused
by landslides and ground subsidence triggered by
earthquake vibrations.
 Destruction from Earthquakes
• Tsunami:
Ø Large undersea earthquakes occasionally set in motion massive waves
that scientists call seismic sea waves or Tsunami.
Ø Most tsunami are caused by the vertical displacement of a slab of
seafloor along a fault on the ocean floor or less often by a large
submarine landslide triggered by an earthquake
Ø Tsunami advance across the ocean at amazing speeds, between 500 and
950 kilometers per hour.
Ø Despite this striking characteristic, a tsunami in the open ocean can
pass undetected because its height (amplitude) is usually less than 1
meter and the distance between wave crests is great, ranging from 100
to 700 kilometers.
Ø However, upon entering shallow coastal waters, these destructive
waves “feel bottom” and slow, causing the water to pile up. A few
exceptional tsunami have reached 30 meters (100 feet) in height.
Seismic Zonation
of
Bangladesh
 Seismic Zones of Bangladesh
Seismic Seismic Seismic Zone
Location
Zone Intensity Coefficient, Z
Southwestern part including Barisal, Khulna,
1 Low 0.12
Jessore, Rajshahi
Lower Central and Northwestern part including
2 Noakhali, Dhaka, Pabna, Dinajpur, as well as Moderate 0.20
Southwestern corner including Sundarbans
Upper Central and Northwestern part including
3 Brahmanbaria, Sirajganj, Rangpur, Chittagong, Severe 0.28
Cox's Bazar.
Northeastern part including Sylhet, Very
4 0.36
Mymensingh, Kurigram Severe
 Some Technical Terms
• Ground Acceleration:
– The earthquake vibrations produce an acceleration in the ground which
is known as the ground acceleration (a).
• Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA):
– Is equal to the maximum ground acceleration that occurred during
earthquake. Two types of PGA:
1. Vertical PGA
2. Horizontal PGA (usually>vertical PGA but may reverse in big
earthquake)
• Seismic coefficient or seismic factor:
– Design for earthquake resistance incorporates a safety of seismic factor.
It is defined as the ratio of ground acceleration and acceleration due to
gravity.
– Seismic coefficient = a/g
 Some Technical Terms
• Base Shear Force:
– Knowing the seismic coefficient, the base shear
force which tends to shake, slide and topple the
structure, can be determined as:
Base Shear Force = Seismic coefficient x
seismic weight of the structure
• Overturning Moment:
Overturning moment = Base shear force x
height of the structure
Special cares for building construction in seismic areas

1. Good quality construction materials as per specifications should be used.

2. The foundations should not be on the loose ground rather than on solid
rock.
3. Depth of foundation should be uniform.
4. Foundation outline approximating a square gives more stability.
5. The wall should be continuous in nature with few doors and windows.
6. Doors and windows should not be in vertical rows, preferably along the
diagonal.
7. Reinforced cement concrete should be used more commonly than brick
work.
8. Roof should be flat and of reinforced concrete to add to the lateral
stiffness.
9. All the parts of a building (edges & corners) should be well tied.
10. Height of the building should be kept uniform which adds to its stability.
11. Construction of chimneys, arches, domes, cantilevers and other extra
projections should be avoided.