1. What causes earthquake?

The cause of earthquake is the sudden release of stress along faults in the earth's crust. The
continuous motion of tectonic plates causes a steady build-up of pressure in the rock strata on
both sides of a fault until the stress is sufficiently great that it is released in a rapid and irregular
movement. The resulting release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground
shake.

2. Where do earthquakes occur?

 Earthquakes Occur Along Plate Edges
The Earth’s crust comprises of several pieces called plates that are interconnected
to each other. These plates may form the bottom of oceans or the surface of the land.
The plates are susceptible to movements which are triggered in the mantle layer of the
Earth below the Earth’s crust. Such movements might result in a plate sliding over
another or moving away from each other and then colliding with force. Such
movements of the Earth’s crust results in earthquakes.
 Earthquakes Occur Along Fault Lines
Earthquakes also occur along fault lines in the Earth’s crust. Faults are basically
cracks in the continental or oceanic plates triggered due to plate tectonics. The crust is
highly unstable in the vicinity of fault lines and disturbances along the fault lines might
trigger massive earthquakes.
 The Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt Or The “Ring Of Fire
The presence of young, growing mountains and volcanoes, deep ocean trenches,
edges of tectonic plates, and other tectonically active structures makes the Pacific Ring
of Fire highly susceptible to earthquakes.
 The Alpide Belt
The presence of growing mountains, fault lines, and other forms of seismically
active structures make the Alpide belt prone to earthquakes.
 Mid-Atlantic Ridge
This ridge is a mid-ocean ridge that is located along the Atlantic Ocean’s floor. It
separates the Eurasian and North American Plates in the North Atlantic Ocean and the
South American and African continental plates in the South Atlantic Ocean. Since this
 belt is involved in a high rate of tectonic activities, it is also highly vulnerable to
earthquakes.

3. How the severity of earthquake is measured?

The severity of earthquake is measured in terms of both intensity and magnitude. Intensity
is based on the observed effects of ground shaking on people, human structures, and the natural
environment. Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake.

4. How often do earthquakes occur?

Earthquakes are always happening somewhere. Large earthquakes occur about once a year.
Smaller earthquakes, such as magnitude 2 earthquakes, occur several hundred times a day.
A measurable earthquake in the Philippines (greater than Magnitude 2.5) occurs almost
every day somewhere. Most people are completely unaware of them - in the ten years from
2008 to 2015 only three earthquakes were felt slightly in Metro Manila. All three earthquakes
resulted from seismic activity in the West Philippine Sea, along the geological fault that runs
North - South off the West coast of Zambales province. It is rare to have an earthquake in the
Philippines that measures greater than Magnitude 6.0.

5. What are the principal effects of earthquakes?

The principal effects of earthquakes are ground shaking, ground rupture, landslides,
tsunamis, and liquefaction.

6. How do earthquake affect buildings?

Ground shaking is the primary cause of earthquake damage to manmade structures such as
buildings. The earthquake's magnitude, the site's proximity to the fault, the local geology, and
the soil type are the factors that influence the strength of earthquake shaking.

7. Discuss the concept of Earthquake Ground Motion, its relation to seismology and earthquake
engineering.
Earthquake ‘ground motion’ describes the phenomenon of shaking as the earthquake waves
arrive at, or travel across, the surface of the earth. Its relation to seismology, seismology is the
study of earthquake and seismic waves through the earth. Strong motion seismology is the
division of seismology concerned with strong ground shaking of earthquakes close to the
epicenter, primarily with amplitudes capable of causing damage. Its scope includes the
observation and empirical description of strong shaking, the study of the physical processes
that control the characteristics of strong shaking, and the simulation of ground motion.
Its relation to earthquake engineering, earthquake engineer designs and analyzes buildings
and structures when subjected to seismic loading. One of the most important aim of earthquake
engineering is to construct and design structures in accordance with building codes to
minimize damage due to earthquakes ground motion.