What is Earthquake?

| General Science & Ability Notes

General Science & Ability Notes

Earthquake

(CSS 1989, 1998, 2008, 2012)

Table of Contents

Q: What is an earth quake? Discuss Richter scale in this context. What

was the intensity of the earth quake in Pakistan dated 26 October
2015 and where was the locus? (CSS 2016)

Anatomy of an Earthquake
Focus and Epicenter
Faults
Waves
Earthquake Causes (CSS 2008)
Theories of Earthquakes
Plate Tectonics Theory
Volcanic Earthquake
Foreshocks and Aftershocks
Earthquakes caused by the Isostatic Adjustment
Fracking Causes Earthquakes
Measurement of Earthquakes
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Q: What is an earth quake? Discuss Richter scale in this

context. What was the intensity of the earth quake in Pakistan
dated 26 October 2015 and where was the locus? (CSS 2016)

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 What is Earthquake? | General Science & Ability Notes

Earthquake
Earthquake shaking of the Earth’s surface caused by rapid movement of the Earth’s rocky
outer layer. Earthquakes occur when energy stored within the Earth, usually in the form of
strain in rocks, suddenly releases. This energy is transmitted to the surface of the Earth by
earthquake waves. The study of earthquakes and the waves they create is called Seismology
(from the Greek seismos, “to shake”). Scientists who study earthquakes are called
seismologists.

Anatomy of an Earthquake
Focus and Epicenter

The point within the Earth along the rupturing geological fault where an earthquake
originates is called the focus, or hypocenter. The point on the Earth’s surface directly above
the focus is called the epicenter.

Seismologists know from observations that most earthquakes originate as shallow-focus

earthquakes and most of them occur near plate boundaries—areas where the Earth’s crustal
plates move against each other. Other earthquakes, including deep-focus earthquakes, can
originate in subduction zones, where one tectonic plate subducts, or moves under another
plate.

Faults

Stress in the Earth’s crust creates faults, resulting in earthquakes. The properties of an
earthquake depend strongly on the type of fault slip, or movement along the fault, that
causes the earthquake.

Waves

The sudden movement of rocks along a fault causes vibrations that transmit energy through
the Earth in the form of waves. Waves that travel in the rocks below the surface of the Earth
are called body waves, and there are two types of body waves: primary, or P, waves, and
secondary, or S, waves. The S waves, also known as shearing waves, move the ground back
and forth.

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 What is Earthquake? | General Science & Ability Notes

Earthquakes also contain surface waves that travel out from the epicenter along the surface
of the Earth. Two types of these surface waves occur: Rayleigh waves, named after British
physicist Lord Rayleigh, and Love waves, named after British geophysicist A. E. H. Love.
Surface waves also cause damage to structures, as they shake the ground underneath the
foundations of buildings and other structures.

Earthquake Causes (CSS 2008)

Most earthquakes are caused by the sudden slip along geologic faults. The faults slip
because of movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates. This concept is called the elastic
rebound theory. The rocky tectonic plates move very slowly, floating on top of a weaker
rocky layer. As the plates collide with each other or slide past each other, pressure builds up
within the rocky crust. Earthquakes occur when pressure within the crust increases slowly
over hundreds of years and finally exceeds the strength of the rocks. Earthquakes also occur
when human activities, such as the filling of reservoirs, increase stress in the Earth’s crust.

Theories of Earthquakes
Plate Tectonics Theory

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s outer shell is divided into several plates that glide
over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. The plates act like a hard and rigid
shell compared to Earth’s mantle. This strong outer layer is called the lithosphere.

Developed from the 1950s through the 1970s, plate tectonics is the modern version of
continental drift, a theory first proposed by scientist Alfred Wegener in 1912.

The theory states that Earth’s outermost layer, the lithosphere, is broken into 7 large, rigid
pieces called plates: the African, North American, South American, Eurasian, Australian,
Antarctic, and Pacific plates. Several minor plates also exist, including the Arabian, Nazca,
and Philippines plates.

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 What is Earthquake? | General Science & Ability Notes

The plates are all moving in different directions and at different speeds (from 2 cm to 10 cm
per year–about the speed at which your fingernails grow) in relationship to each other. The
plates are moving around like cars in a demolition derby, which means they sometimes
crash together, pull apart, or sideswipe each other.

The place where the two plates meet is called a plate boundary. Boundaries have different
names depending on how the two plates are moving in relationship to each other

crashing: Convergent Boundaries,

pulling apart: Divergent Boundaries,
or sideswiping: Transform Boundaries

Volcanic Earthquake

Molten rock, called magma, is stored in reservoirs under volcanoes. As this magma moves
upwards, it can fracture the rock it squeezes through, causing earthquakes, usually with
magnitudes not much greater than 5.0. Sometimes the magma collects in a high level
reservoir prior to a volcanic eruption and as it moves around it causes bursts of continuous
vibration, called volcanic tremor. Because of these precursors, seismographs (earthquake
recorders) are very useful for monitoring volcanoes to give warning of an impending
eruption.

Foreshocks and Aftershocks

Foreshocks are smaller earthquakes that may occur in the same area as a larger earthquake
that follows. They are caused by minor fracturing of rocks under stress prior to the main
break that happens during the largest earthquake of the series, called the main shock.
Foreshocks can start up to a year before the main shock

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 What is Earthquake? | General Science & Ability Notes

Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that may occur after the main shock, in the same area.
They are caused by the main shock area readjusting to the fault movement, and some may
be the result of continuing movement along the same fault. The largest aftershocks are
usually at least half a magnitude unit smaller than the mainshock and the aftershock
sequence may continue for months or years after the main shock.

Earthquakes caused by the Isostatic Adjustment

As the crust re-adjusts to the lighter load (isostatic rebound to achieve equilibrium) it
transfers stress to other parts of the crust. If there is a fault near enough to the new
stresses, that can add enough stress to cause the fault(s) to move and that can produce an
earthquake. This is not the major cause of earthquakes but New Madrid in the US may have
some of that effect but don’t quote me on that because there are other things going on to
cause fault movement there. Very few things happen in isolation. Since this process happens
over a great length of time, such earthquakes are more minor than

Fracking Causes Earthquakes

Two separate studies are providing insights into the earth-shaking consequences of the
controversial gas extraction process known as fracking. Both studies confirm that processes
linked to the extraction of oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can trigger
manmade earthquakes Fracking involves blasting water, sand and chemicals deep into the
ground to fracture rock to obtain oil and natural gas. Energy companies are increasingly
using the technique across Canada, where there is already regular seismic activity and an
ever looming threat of various sized tremors. The U.S. Geological Survey is set to release its
findings April 2012 that a “remarkable” increase of quakes in the U.S. midcontinent since
2001 is “almost certainly” the result of oil and gas production.

Most earthquakes are causally related to compressional or tensional stresses built up at the
margins of the huge moving lithospheric plates that make up the earth’s surface The
immediate cause of most shallow earthquakes is the sudden release of stress along a fault,
or fracture in the earth’s crust, resulting in movement of the opposing blocks of rock past
one another. These movements cause vibrations to pass through and around the earth in
wave form, just as ripples are generated when a pebble is dropped into water. Volcanic
eruptions, rock falls, landslides, and explosions can also cause a quake, but most of these
are of only local extent. Shock waves from a powerful earthquake can trigger smaller
earthquakes in a distant location hundreds of miles away if the geologic conditions are
favorable.

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 What is Earthquake? | General Science & Ability Notes

Measurement of Earthquakes
The power of an earthquake is measured using a seismometer. A seismometer detects the
vibrations caused by an earthquake. It plots these vibrations on a seismograph.

The strength, or magnitude, of an earthquake is measured using the Richter scale. The
Richter scale is numbered 0-10.

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