CE0043

Earthquake Engineering
Introduction to Basic Seismology and Earthquake
Engineering
 Module 1
OBJECTIVES

■At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:

− Familiarization on the basics of earthquake engineering.

− Explain the importance of earthquake engineering in structural design.

− Enumerate procedures in seismic analysis.

Introduction to Basic Seismology and Earthquake Engineering

Basic Earthquake
Engineering Definitions
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Base
- It is the level at which the earthquake motions are considered to
be imparted to the structure or the level at which the structure, as a
dynamic vibrator, is supported.

Base Shear
- It is the total design lateral force or shear at the base of a
structure.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Bearing Wall System
- It is a structural system that does not have a compete vertical
load-carrying space frame.

Boundary Element
- It is an element at edges of openings or at perimeters of shear
walls or diaphragms.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Braced Frame
- It is essentially a vertical truss system of the concentric or
eccentric type that is provided to resist lateral forces.

Building Frame System

- It is essentially a complete space frame that provides support for
gravity loads.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Building (Enclosed)
- It is a building that does not comply with the requirements for
open or partially enclosed buildings.

Building Envelope
- It refers to cladding, roofing, exterior wall, glazing, door
assemblies, window assemblies, skylight assemblies and other
components enclosing the building.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Building (Flexible)
- It refers to slender buildings that have a fundamental natural
frequency less than 1.0 Hz.

Building (Low Rise)

- It is an enclosed or partially enclosed building that complies with
the following conditions: (a) mean roof height “h” less than or
equal to 18m and (b) mean roof height “h” does not exceed least
horizontal dimension.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Building (Open)
- It refers to a building having each wall at least 80 percent open.
This condition is expressed for each wall by the equation 𝐴 𝑜 ≥
0.8𝐴𝑔

Building (Regular Shaped)

- It refers to a building or other structure having no unusual
geometrical irregularity in spatial form.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Building (Partially Enclosed)
- It is a building that complies with both of the following conditions:
1. The total area of openings in a wall that receives positive external
pressure exceeds the sum of the areas of openings in the balance of the
building envelope (walls and roof) by more than 10%; and
2. The total area of openings in a wall that receives positive external
pressure exceeds 0.5m 2 or 1 percent of the area of that wall, whichever
is smaller, and the percentage of openings in the balance of the
building envelope does not exceed 20 percent.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Building (Partially Enclosed)
- It is a building that complies with both of the following conditions:
These conditions are expressed by the following equations:
1. 𝐴 𝑜 > 1.10𝐴 𝑜𝑖

2. 𝐴 𝑜 > 𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 (0.5𝑚 2 𝑜𝑟 0.01𝐴𝑔 )

3. 𝐴 𝑜𝑖 Τ𝐴𝑔𝑖 ≤ 0.20
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Building (Rigid)
- It refers to a building or other structure whose fundamental
frequency is greater than or equal to 1.0 Hz.

Cantilevered Column Element

- It is a column element in a lateral-force-resisting system that
cantilevers from a fixed base and has minimal moment capacity at
the top, with lateral forces applied essentially at the top.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Collector
- It is a member or element provided to transfer lateral forces from
a portion of a structure to vertical elements of the lateral-force-
resisting system.

Component
- It is a part or element of an architectural, electrical, mechanical
or structural system.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Component (Equipment)
- It is a mechanical or electrical component or element that is part
of a mechanical and/or electrical system.

Component (Flexible)
- It is component, including its attachments, having fundamental
period greater than 0.06s.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Concentrically-Braced Frame
- It is a braced frame in which the members are subjected primarily
to axial forces.

Cripple Wall
- It is a framed stud wall extending from the top of the foundation
to the underside of floor framing for the lowest occupied level.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Dead Loads
- It consists of the weight of all materials and fixed equipment
incorporated into the building or other structure.

Deck
- It is an exterior floor system supported on at least two opposing
sides by an adjacent structure and/or posts, piers, or other
independent supports.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Design Basis Ground Motion
- It is that ground motion that has a 10 percent chance of being
exceeded in 50 years as determined by a site-specific hazard
analysis or may be determined from a hazard map.

Design Response Spectrum

- It is an elastic response spectrum for 5 percent equivalent viscous
damping used to represent the dynamic effects of the Design Basis
Ground Motion for the design of structures.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Design Seismic Force
- It is the minimum total strength design base shear, factored and
distributed.

Diaphragm
- It is a horizontal or nearly horizontal system acting to transmit
lateral forces to the vertical resisting elements. It includes
horizontal bracing systems.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Diaphragm (Blocked)
- It is a diaphragm in which all sheathing edges not occurring on
framing members are supported on and connected to blocking.

Diaphragm Chord/Shear Wall Chord

- It is the boundary element of a diaphragm or shear wall that is
assumed to take axial stresses analogous to the flanges of a beam.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Diaphragm Strut
- It is the element of a diaphragm parallel to the applied load that
collects and transfers diaphragm shear to the vertical resisting
elements or distributed loads within the diaphragm. Such members
may take axial tension or compression.

Diaphragm (Unblocked)
- It is the diaphragm that has edge nailing at supporting members
only.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Drift (Storey Drift)
- It is the lateral displacement of one level relative to the level
above or below.

Dual System
- It is a combination of moment-resisting frames and shear walls or
braced frames
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Elastic Response Parameters
- These are forces and deformations determined from an elastic
dynamic analysis using an unreduced ground motion
representation.

Essential Facilities
- These are buildings, towers and other vertical structures that are
intended to remain operational in the event of extreme
environmental loading from earthquakes.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Flexible Element
- It is one whose deformation under lateral load is significantly
larger than adjoining parts of the system.

Horizontal Bracing System

- It is a horizontal truss system that serves the same function as a
diaphragm.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Importance Factor
- It is a factor that accounts for the degree of hazard to human life
and damage to property.

Lateral-Force-Resisting System
- It is that part of the structural system designed to resist the
Design Seismic Forces.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Limit State
- It is a condition beyond which a structure or member becomes
unfit for service and is judged to be no longer useful for its
intended functions (serviceability limit state) or to be unsafe
(strength limit state)

Live Loads
- These are those loads produced by the use and occupancy of the
building or other structure and do not include dead load,
construction load, or environmental loads.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Loads
- These are forces or other actions that results from the weight of
all building materials, occupants and their possessions,
environmental effects, differential movements, and restrained
dimensional changes.

Moment-Resisting Frame
- It is a frame in which members and joints are capable of resisting
forces primarily by flexure.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Moment-Resisting Wall Frame (MRWF)
- It is a masonry wall frame especially detailed to provide ductile
behavior.

Ordinary Moment-Resisting Frame (OMRF)

- It is a moment-resisting frame not meeting special detailing
requirements for ductile behavior.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Orthogonal Effects
- These are the earthquake load effect on structural elements
simultaneously occurring to the lateral-force-resisting systems along
two orthogonal axes.
P∆ Effect
- It is the secondary effect on shears, axial forces and moments of
frame members induced by the horizontal displacement of vertical
loads from various loading, when a structure is subjected to lateral
forces.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Rotation
- It is the torsional movement of a diaphragm about a vertical axis.

Shear Wall
- It is a wall designed to resist lateral forces parallel to the plane of
the wall (sometimes referred to as vertical diaphragm or structural
wall).
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Shear Wall-Frame Interactive System
- It uses combinations of shear walls and frames designed to resist
lateral forces in proportion to their relative rigidities, considering
interaction between shear walls and frames on all levels.

Subdiaphragm
- It is a portion of a diaphragm used to transfer wall anchorage
forces to diaphragm cross ties.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Soft Storey
- It is one in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70 percent of the
stiffness of the storey above.

Storey
- It is the space between levels.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Storey Drift Ratio
- It is the storey drift divided by the storey height.

Storey Shear
- It is the summation of design lateral forces above the storey
under consideration.
Basic Terminologies in Earthquake Engineering
Strength
- It is an assemblage of framing members designed to support
gravity loads and resist lateral forces.

Weak Storey
- It is one in which the storey strength is less than 80 percent of the
storey above.
INTRODUCTION TO EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Effects of
Earthquakes
 Earthquake
Effects

Ground Indirect Ground

Failure Effects Shaking

Surface
Tsunami
Rupture

Earthquake Ground
Seiches
Subsidence
Effects
Ground
Fires
Cracking

Soil
Liquefaction

Landslides
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Ground Failures
- These are generally
considered part of
geotechnical earthquake
engineering, and they involve
the movement of the ground
surface at a location where
geological fissures or zones of
weakness in the crust of the
earth (faults) slip slowly or
(Bird and Bommer, 2004)
suddenly.
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Surface Faulting
- Occurs when the relative
movement of rocks on the two
sides of a fault takes place deep
within the earth and breaks
through to the surface.
- Occur as slow movement in the
form of fault creep or suddenly
resulting in an earthquake.
- This type of ground failure
typically follows a pre-existing (Galli et al., 2017)
fault line.
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Ground Subsidence
- Occurs as loose soils rearrange
and settle into a denser state
during vibrations cause by
earthquakes

(Glass, 2013)
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Ground Cracking
- It is usually observed along the edges of
ground subsidence.
- It is also be the result of slope failure or
liquefaction, all of which cause the ground to
lose its support and sink, with the ground
surface breaking up into fissures, scarps, horsts
and grabens.
- The most damaging effect of ground
subsidence is differential settlement, which can
severely disrupt the function of any
infrastructure system near the vicinity of (Hassan et al., 2016)
cracking locations, particularly those with long
foundations that straddle the cracks.
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Soil Liquefaction
- It occurs when loose, saturated granular soils
temporarily change from a solid to a liquid
state, losing their shear strength, which
corresponds to a loss in effective stress between
soil particles.
- Loose saturated (or moderately saturated) sands and
non-plastic silts are most susceptible to this ground
failure; however, in rare cases, gravel and clay can
also experience liquefaction.
- Inall cases, poor drainage within the loose soil causes
an increase in the pore water pressure as the soil is
compressed by the vibratory effect of seismic waves. https://www.britannica.com/science/soil-liquefaction
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Landslides
- Landslides caused by earthquakes are uncommon.
Consequently, in order for a structure to experience
damage during the event, it must be located at the top
or bottom of the soil mass that slides down; for this
reason, damage resulting from earthquake-induced
landslides is rare.
- Sloped land that is marginally stable under static
conditions is most susceptible to sliding during the
intense shaking of strong earthquakes.
- For the most severe cases, debris (soil, boulders,
and other materials) flow can move at avalanche https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gpa/landslides/earth
quake-induced-landslides/
speeds and can travel long distances depending on
the slope from which the landslide was formed.
Structural Effects of Earthquakes
Landslides
- Furthermore, earthquake-induced landslides can be
sudden and unpredictable, producing the total
destruction of communities in the path of the debris
flow.

https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gpa/landslides/earth
quake-induced-landslides/
Indirect Effects of Earthquakes
Tsunamis
- These are long-period sea waves that are
generated when an earthquake causes the vertical
movement of the seafloor.
- Tsunamis travel far, at high speeds (over 500
mph) in the open ocean and are difficult to detect
because of their small crest-to-trough height, and
long wavelengths, which typically, are hundreds of
miles long.
- Unobstructed, these waves can travel around the
world and dissipate all their energy without causing https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/what-tsunami-
ncna943571
damage.
Indirect Effects of Earthquakes

Tsunamis
- However, as they approach a shore, the water
depth decreases causing an increase in wave speed
and wave amplitude (height of wave run-ups).
- Wave run-ups of 75 feet have been observed at
several locations.
- Wave run-ups can push water that rushes far
inland, and have created devastating damage to
infrastructure and great loss of life.
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/what-tsunami-
ncna943571
Indirect Effects of Earthquakes
Seiches
- These are earthquake-induced waves in an
enclosed body of water, such as a lake or a
reservoir, or one that is partially enclosed, such as a
bay.
- These are are caused when long-period seismic
waves resonate with oscillations of the enclosed
water and cause standing waves.
- Earthquakes may happen within or far outside the
http://www.geo.mtu.edu/KeweenawGeoheritage/Lake/Seiches.html
perimeter of the body of water.
- Although this type of wave has been observed during most earthquakes (even in swimming
pools), related damage to infrastructure has been minimal.
Indirect Effects of Earthquakes
Fire
- It is probably the most terrifying indirect effect of earthquakes, particularly considering
that people who survived in collapsed buildings, but were trapped in the debris, were
burnt alive

Memari et al., 2013

Indirect Effects of Earthquakes
Fire
- Traditional firefighting methods are often ineffective against earthquake-induced fires
because most water mains that supply water hydrants break.

Memari et al., 2013

Indirect Effects of Earthquakes
Fire
- Earthquake-induced fires are started by ruptured combustible substance conduits (such
as gas mains) or destroyed combustible substance storage containers (such as oil tanks),
and then ignited by sparks from sources such as downed powerlines.

Memari et al., 2013

Ground Shaking
Ground Shaking
- It causes the majority of earthquake
damage; additionally most of the
aforementioned effects are caused by
shaking. In fact, where the shaking
intensity is low, the hazard of other
effects can be minimal.
- Consequently, shaking is the only
effect experienced by everyone
within an afflicted area, and intense
shaking can produce widespread
damage from various seismic
hazards. https://www.facebook.com/technologyreview.pk/photos/a.222627969
0731551/2762512310441617/?type=1&theater
Ground Shaking
Ground Shaking
- For this reason, ground shaking is
the main focus of earthquake
engineering.

- Although earthquakes are caused

by numerous natural and human-
induced phenomena, the events
posing the highest seismic risks are
caused by the relative deformation of
crustal tectonic plates

https://www.facebook.com/technologyreview.pk/photos/a.222627969
0731551/2762512310441617/?type=1&theater
Ground Shaking
Seismic waves that radiate from the location where a fault ruptures (the focus) quickly travel
throughout the earth’s crust, producing ground shaking when they reach the ground surface. The
intensity and duration of shaking experienced at a particular site during an earthquake are
primarily because of three factors:
- Earthquake size (magnitude): It can be measured objectively or subjectively—larger earthquakes
cause stronger shaking. A strong earthquake can cause ground shaking over widespread areas,
suddenly affecting large numbers of structures. Even relatively small earthquakes can have a
significant impact on large numbers of buildings.

- Location (distance from the focus or epicenter): Generally, the closer to the epicenter, the
stronger the shaking. Structures near the epicenter of a strong earthquake can experience
extensive damage, in some cases partial or total collapse;
Ground Shaking
Seismic waves that radiate from the location where a fault ruptures (the focus) quickly travel
throughout the earth’s crust, producing ground shaking when they reach the ground surface. The
intensity and duration of shaking experienced at a particular site during an earthquake are
primarily because of three factors:
- The subsurface materials beneath the structure: Soft soils amplify the shaking, while rocks
do not. This is the most insidious of the three factors because the site can be located at a
long distance from the epicenter and still experience extensive ground shaking due to local
soil conditions. Seismic waves travel through rock for most of their trip from the focus to the
surface; however, at many sites, the final part of the trip is through soil, the geological
characteristics of which have a major influence on the nature of ground shaking. Some soils
act as seismic wave filters, attenuating shaking at some frequencies while amplifying it at
others.
Types of Earthquakes
Man – Made Earthquakes
- These generally have a much smaller magnitude than the other two types of earthquakes, and
thus have a lesser impact on infrastructure. However, man-made earthquakes can lead to earlier
fault ruptures (tectonic earthquakes) because the shaking can increase critical stresses at the plate
boundaries.
- One of the most intense cases is due to explosions, both from conventional and nuclear
weapons.

- For example, it is estimated that the Boxcar nuclear bomb explosion in 1968, with a yield
of 1200,000 tons TNT equivalent, excited an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 that lasted for 10–
12 s. This shook buildings in nearby communities, including Las Vegas, NV (30 miles away),
but no serious damage or casualties occurred.
Types of Earthquakes
Volcanic Earthquakes
- These are caused by the same energy source as tectonic earthquakes, which is the heat from the
earth’s core. Volcanic seismicity affects limited areas near volcanic regions.
- The movement of magma through tubes below the volcanic vents creates pressure changes
in the surrounding rock that can rupture, releasing elastic strain energy as seismic waves.
- These seismic waves have been successfully used to predict eruptions of volcanos such as
Mount St. Helen in 1980 and Pinatubo in 1991.

- Other seismic waves can be induced by sudden, irregular movement of magma whose path has
been obstructed, or by steady magma movement deep in the mantle.

- Damage from all these earthquakes is relatively minor compared with that produced by
tectonic earthquakes.
Types of Earthquakes
Tectonic Earthquakes
- These are caused by a sudden dislocation of segments of the earth’s crust, the structure of
which is composed of plates (large and small) known as tectonic plates that float on a liquid layer,
the mantle.

- This arrangement resulted from the formation of planet Earth five billion years ago, when hot
gasses cooled into a semi-solid mass.
- It is estimated that after one to two billion years of cooling, the crust solidified and cracked
forming tectonic plates (different ones than those that exist today).

- Damage from all these earthquakes is relatively minor compared with that produced by
tectonic earthquakes.
Types of Earthquakes
Continental Drift Theory
- From the beginning, the plates have been in
constant motion forming and breaking up
continents over time, including the formation
of supercontinents that contained most of the
landmass. The latest supercontinent, Pangea,
started separating approximately 200 million
years ago, and its parts have drifted apart to the
current configuration of the earth’s surface.
This process was originally proposed by Alfred
Wegener in the early 1900s. He noted several
different pieces of evidence to support his
theory of the continental drift, including
Estrada and Lee, 2017
Types of Earthquakes
Continental Drift Theory
1. How the current shape of some continents
appear to fit together, particularly the east coast
of South America and the west coast of Africa?

2. The significant similarities between fossil

records (both flora and fauna) found in several
continents that could only have occurred if the
continents were attached.

3. The similarity in geology across several

continents, including grooves carved by
glaciers and the sediments deposited by these Map Taken from the USGS Website
glaciers.
Basic Terminologies
Faults
- At the boundaries of the plates, rocks fracture, usually at many locations, creating a web of
smaller plates with edges that rub and push relative to each other; these edges are called faults.

Slip
- When this energy is released with a sudden movement (slip), it causes brief strong ground
vibrations.

Hypocenter/Focus
- The specific location (generally a volume of rock) where the movement or energy release
occurs is known as the focus, or hypocenter.
Basic Terminologies
Epicenter
- The point on the earth’s surface directly above the hypocenter is called the epicenter.

Aftershocks
- Usually, the vibrations cause the rocks near the focus to become unstable; and as these rocks
settle into a new equilibrium state they cause aftershocks.

Seismology
- The discipline that studies seismic activity is known as seismology
Basic Terminologies
Epicenter
- The point on the earth’s surface directly above the hypocenter is called the epicenter.

Aftershocks
- Usually, the vibrations cause the rocks near the focus to become unstable; and as these rocks
settle into a new equilibrium state they cause aftershocks.

Seismology
- The discipline that studies seismic activity is known as seismology
Magnitude 8 and Greater Earthquakes Since 1900
The May 22, 1960 Chile
Earthquake is the highest
magnitude earthquake
recorded (9.5) since 1900.

The December 26, 2004

Sumatra, Indonesia
Earthquake has the highest
fatalities recorded since 1900.

The April 14, 1924 Mindanao,

Philippines Earthquake has the
highest magnitude recorded
(8.3) since 1900.
“Ring of Fire” – Regions of High Seismicity
Significant Earthquakes
in the Philippines
Excerpt from Pacheco, B.M. , Major Earthquake Zones in the Philippines
presentation
Earthquakes for the Past
400 Years
Excerpt from Pacheco, B.M. , Major Earthquake Zones in the Philippines
presentation
 History of the Development of Mitigation Strategies
for the Effects of Seismic Hazards
1. Development of construction practices to mitigate the effects of shaking.

2. The first half of the twentieth century focused on characterizing the effect of shaking using
lateral forces.

3. In the 1940s, the development of the response spectrum theory marked a major step
forward.

4. In the 1960s, concepts of structural dynamics were incorporated into design practice.

5. The last stage has implicitly been included in building codes since the 1970s and deals with
performance-based design.
The dynamic forces are only equivalent to code-specified lateral forces in that a structure
designed to resist these forces has the capability of deforming without overstressing from load
reversals, and provide adequate member ductility, as well as provide connections with
sufficient strength and resiliency to accomplish the following performance goals:

1. Resist minor earthquakes without damage.

2. Resist moderate earthquakes without structural damage, but with some nonstructural damage.

3. Resist major earthquakes without collapse, but with both structural and nonstructural
damage.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC SEISMOLOGY AND EARTHQUAKE
ENGINEERING

Engineering
Seismology
Engineering Seismology Terminology
Epicenter
- It is the geographical point on the ground surface where an earthquake is estimated to be
centered.

Focal Depth
- Together with the epicenter, it gives the location where the rock ruptures at a fault (fault
rupture) that generates the main earthquake, the focus or hypocenter.
- This is an area (not a point) that can extend for many miles along a fault.

Fault Plane
- The plane along which the rock ruptures and slips
Engineering Seismology Terminology
Dip Angle
- An angle with respect to the ground surface
Strike Angle
- The angle the fault plane makes with respect
to the north direction along the surface
Fault Slip
- The relative displacement between the two
sides of the fault plane
Epicentral Distance Estrada and Lee, 2017

- The radiating seismic waves are recorded

using a seismometer at an observation station
located at a distance
Classification of Focal Depth
Shallow Focal Depth
- It is characterized by focal depths less than 70 km (43 miles)

Intermediate Focal Depth

- It is characterized by focal depths between 70km (43 miles) and 300km (186 miles)

Deep Distance
- It is characterized by focal depths greater than 300 km (186 miles)
Engineering Seismology Terminology

Estrada and Lee, 2017

Elastic Rebound Theory
Elastic Rebound Theory: Tectonic
Plate Movement
- The elastic-rebound theory is an explanation for
how energy is released during an earthquake.

- As the Earth's crust deforms, the rocks which span the

opposing sides of a fault are subjected to shear stress. Slowly
they deform, until their internal rigidity is exceeded.

- Then they separate with a rupture along the fault; the

sudden movement releases accumulated energy, and the
rocks snap back almost to their original shape.

Estrada and Lee, 2017

Seismic Waves
- Seismic waves radiate from the focus and
travel in every direction, as shown
- The portion of the energy released from a
fault rupture as shaking first travels through the
interior of the earth as body waves, following
the shortest path to the ground surface where
they are transformed into surface waves

- Thus, body waves arrive at an observation station (or

site) before any surface waves. An understanding of
these different waves is necessary to establish the
epicenter and to characterize the size of the
earthquake (earthquake magnitude and ground Estrada and Lee, 2017

acceleration).
Types of Seismic Waves
P-Waves (Primary or Pressure)
- P-waves travel faster than other seismic waves and hence are the first signal from an earthquake
to arrive at any affected location or at a seismograph.
S-Waves (Secondary or Shear)
- S-waves are transverse waves, meaning that the oscillations of an S-wave's particles are
perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation, and the main restoring force comes
from shear stress

Estrada and Lee, 2017

Measuring Earthquakes
Earthquake Intensity
- The intensity of an earthquake is a subjective, non-empirical approach for estimating the size of
an earthquake based on the subjective assessment of human observations of the effects of
earthquake shaking on buildings (amount of damage sustained by structures and land surface)
and on people.

Estrada and Lee, 2017

Measuring Earthquakes

Earthquake Intensity
Estrada and Lee, 2017
Measuring Earthquakes
Earthquake Magnitude
- Whereas the intensity of a given earthquake varies from one observation point to another,
earth- quakes can be associated with a single value of magnitude.

- The consensus measure of magnitude is based on the Richter scale, which quantifies the
size of an earthquake with an index of the amount of energy released, and while this
approach is an improvement as compared to the intensity scales, the Richter scale does not
accurately account for all factors that contribute to the actual size of an earthquake.

- This scale, however, does appropriately measure the relative strength of an earthquake and
remains an important parameter in earthquake hazard analysis.
Measuring Earthquakes
Earthquake Magnitude
- In addition to being used for earthquake hazard analysis by seismologists and engineers, it is
the preferred scale used to inform the public of the size of an earthquake.
- Because it was originally developed to quantify the strength of Southern California
earthquakes, the Richter scale is also known as the local magnitude scale, ML. Richter
defined ML using the base-10 logarithm of the peak trace amplitude (in micrometers, μm) of
a standard Wood–Anderson seismograph (which has a magnification factor of 2800, a
natural period of 0.8 s, and damping of 80%), located on firm ground at a distance of 100
km from the epicenter.
Measuring Earthquakes
Earthquake Magnitude
The following relationship gives the local magnitude:

where:
A = the peak amplitude in micrometer, measured from a seismogram.
Ao = the peak amplitude of a zero-magnitude earthquake in μm, which is used to adjust
the variation of ground motion amplitude for epicentral distances other than 100
km
Measuring Earthquakes
Earthquake Magnitude
The previous equation is typically not used directly to determine the magnitude of an
earthquake; instead, a correction nomogram provided by Richter is used. The nomogram
was convenient when digital calculators were not available. The equation used to develop the
nomogram is

where:
A = the peak amplitude in mm, measured from a seismogram.
Δtp−s = the time between the arrival of P- and S-waves in seconds; this indirectly
measures the epicentral distance
Measuring Earthquakes
Earthquake Magnitude
The Richter scale has a practical range from 0 to 9.0 (theoretically, the scale has no
upper or lower limits). Also, the base-10 logarithmic scale indicates that each unit increase in
ML corresponds to a 10-fold increase of the earthquake wave amplitude. For example, a 7
ML earthquake is 100 times stronger than a 5 ML event (10 × 10 = 100).
Measuring Earthquakes
Problem 1:
Estimate the local magnitude of a southern California earthquake recorded in two
perpendicular directions at several stations using standard Wood–Anderson seismographs.
The trace amplitudes and epicentral distances are as follows (Richter, 1958):
Measuring Earthquakes
Problem 1 - Solution

M LN-S = log10 AN-S + 2.56log10 D N-S - 5.12

M LN-S = log10 ( 8.4x10 3 mm ) + 2.56log10 (114km ) - 5.12 = 4.07

M LE-W = log10 ( 6x10 3 mm ) + 2.56log10 (114km ) - 5.12 = 4.92

The average of these two values gives M L at station 1. That is,

4.07 + 3.92
M L1 = = 4.0
2
Measuring Earthquakes
Problem 1 - Solution
All other stations are treated similarly and the results are summarized as follows:

Therefore, the magnitude of this particular earthquake can be determined as the

average of the averages of each station:
4.0 + 4.6 + 4.3 + 4.9
ML = = 4.4
4
Measuring Earthquakes
Energy Radiated of an Earthquake (E) – Equation 1
The local energy associated with earthquakes during fault fracture growth is primarily
trans- formed into heat, with only 1%–10% being released as seismic waves. The relationship
between the fraction of energy radiated as waves and the local magnitude, ML, is given as
follows:

where:
E = in ergs, which is relatively small unit, 1 ft-lb = 1.356x107 ergs
Measuring Earthquakes
Energy Radiated of an Earthquake (E) – Equation 2
All of which can be estimated relatively accurately. Alternatively, the moment can be directly
estimated from the amplitudes of long-period waves at large distances, with corrections for
attenuation and directional effects. Although moment is an effective way to establish the size of an
earth- quake, it is customarily convenient to convert it into a magnitude quantity so that it can be
compared to ML, mb, and Ms. This can be accomplished by relating the seismic moment M0 to the
radiated energy E. That is,

where:
Δσ is the static stress drop in the earthquake, which ranges from 30 to 60 bars (1 bar = 100 kPa)
G is the shear modulus of the medium near the fault
Measuring Earthquakes
Body Wave and Surface Wave Scale
The wave train recorded on a seismograph for a deep earthquake is very different than
for a shallow one, leading to two different values of ML even for events that release equal
amounts of total energy. Consequently, more accurate measures of magnitude had to be
developed in order to improve the uniform coverage of earthquake size. Richter working with
his colleague Gutenberg addressed the shortcomings of the local magnitude scale by developing
the body-wave scale, mb, to handle deep-focus earthquakes and the surface-wave scale, Ms, to
handle distant earth- quakes. The three scales are related by the following empirical
relationships:
Measuring Earthquakes
Moment Magnitude Scale (M w )
The strength of an earthquake can be more accurately measured using the moment
magnitude scale, MW, which accurately measures a wide range of earthquake sizes and is applicable
globally. This scale is a function of the total moment release by an earthquake. The moment is a
measure of the total energy released. The concept of moment is adopted from mechanics and is
defined as the product of the fault displacement and the force causing the displacement. A simple
derivation of the moment, M0, is presented in Villaverde and is based on the size of the fault rupture,
the slip amount, and the stiffness of the fractured rocks. That is,

where:
M0 is in dyne cm, which is a relatively small unit, 1 dyne cm = 1 × 10−7 N m
G is the shear modulus of the rocks included in the fault in dyne/cm2, which ranges from 3.2 × 1011 dyne/cm2
in the crust to 7.5 × 1011 dyne/cm2 in the mantle
Af is the area of the fault rupture in cm2
Ds is the average fault slip or displacement in cm
Measuring Earthquakes
Moment Magnitude Scale (M w )
The moment magnitude, Mw, is then derived by substituting Equation 2 into Equation 1
and replacing ML with Mw since the two scales give similar values for earthquakes of magnitude
ranges from 3 to 5. For average values of Δσ and G (Δσ/G ≅ 10–4), the relationship between M0
and Mw is then given as

where:
M0 is in dyne cm, which is a relatively small unit, 1 dyne cm = 1 × 10−7 N m
The resulting Mw does not saturate at large magnitude values. Mw is also known as the Kanamori wave energy,
after the scientist who developed this relationship (Villaverde, 2009).
Measuring Earthquakes
Return Period (RP)

where:
P = the probability of exceedance in T years
Measuring Earthquakes
Problem 2:
Estimate the seismic moment and moment magnitude of the January 12, 2010 Haiti
earthquake. It is estimated that the blind thrust fault (the slip plane ends before reaching the
earth’s surface) caused an average strike-slip displacement of 2 m over an area equal to 30
km long by 15 km deep (Eberhard et al. 2010). Assume that the rock along the fault has an
average shear rigidity of 3.2 × 1011 dyne/cm2.
Problem 2 - Solution
1. Determine the fault’s rupture area A f and fault slip, D s in consistent units.
A f = ( 30x105 cm ) (15x10 5 cm ) = 4.5x10 cm
12 2

Ds = 2m = 20cm
Measuring Earthquakes
Problem 2 - Solution
2. Determine the seismic moment M o
M o = GA f Ds
æ dyne ö
M o = ç 3.2x1011
è
(
2 ÷
cm ø
)
4.5x1012 cm 2 ( 200cm )

M o = 2.88x1026 dyne - cm

3. Determine the moment magnitude M w

2
M w = log10 M o -10.7
3
2
(
M w = log10 2.88x10 26 dyne - cm -10.7
3
)
M w = 6.94
Earthquake Hazard Assessment
The deterministic approach can be used in areas where seismic activity is frequent
and its sources are well defined. The process is relatively simple and entails the following:

1. Identifying nearby seismic sources.

2. Identifying the distance to the structure site from nearby seismic sources.
3. Determining the magnitude and characteristics of nearby seismic sources.
4. Establishing the structural response to the effects from all nearby seismic sources.
5. Selecting the case that produces the largest structural response.
 ASK ANY QUESTION
RELATED TO OUR TOPIC
FOR TODAY.
Do the Exercises about
the Introduction to
Earthquake Engineering
Reference:
Bird, J. F., & Bommer, J. J. (2004). Earthquake losses due to ground failure. Engineering
geology, 75(2), 147-179.

Estrada, H., & Lee, L. S. (2017). Introduction to Earthquake Engineering. CRC Press.

Galli, Paolo & Castenetto, Sergio & Peronace, Edoardo. (2017). The macroseismic intensity
distribution of the October 30, 2016 earthquake in central Italy (Mw 6.6). Seismotectonic
implications.: 2016 central Italy earthquake intensity. Tectonics. 10.1002/2017TC004583.

Glass, C. E. (2013). Interpreting aerial photographs to identify natural hazards. Elsevier.

Hassan, Said & Al-Harbi, Tawfiq & Al-Yami, Mahdi & Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed & Al-Shammari,
Mohammed. (2016). Earthquake Disaster Management Approach: The Case of Al-Ais,
Medina Area in Saudi Arabia. Open Journal of Earthquake Research. 05. 219-235.
10.4236/ojer.2016.54018.
Reference:
Memari, Mehrdad & Turbert, Collin & Mahmoud, Hussam. (2013). Effects of Fire Following
Earthquakes on Steel Frames with Reduced Beam Sections. Structures Congress 2013: Bridging
Your Passion with Your Profession - Proceedings of the 2013 Structures Congress.
10.1061/9780784412848.223.