EARTHQUAKE DESCRIPTORS

Earthquake is any sudden shaking of the ground caused by the passage of seismic
waves through Earth’s rocks. Seismic waves are produced when some form of energy stored in
Earth’s crust is suddenly released, usually when masses of rock straining against one another
suddenly fracture and “slip.” Earthquakes are normally assumed to originate from a single point
known as the focus or hypocenter. Earthquakes occur most often along geologic faults, narrow
zones where rock masses move in relation to one another. In reality, however, most earthquakes
are generated by movement along a fault plane, so the focal region may extend for several
kilometers. The point on the Earth's surface vertically above the focus is the epicenter. The angle
subtended at the center of the Earth by the epicenter and the point at which the seismic waves are
detected is known as the epicentral angle.

SEISMIC MOMENT
Seismic Moment is a quantity used by seismologists to measure the size of an earthquake.
The calculation of seismic moment in the time when there was no modern equipment was totally
different from the today's calculations of seismic moment. When there were no modern
equipment’s, then seismic moment is calculated by the area of the fault and the displacement
which is caused in tectonic plates. The seismic moment of an earthquake is given by Mo=μAD
where,

 μ is the rupture strength of the material along the fault or the shear modulus of the rocks
involved in the earthquake (in Pascals (Pa), i.e. Newtons per square meter)
 A is the rupture area along the geologic fault where the earthquake occurred (in square
meters), and
 D is the average amount of slip (in meters).
 Therefore Mo has the dimensions of torque which is measured in Newton meters. The
connection between seismic moment and a torque is natural in the representation of seismic
sources as a pair of force couples.
Seismic moment was introduced by Hiroo Kanamori, which is often used to compare the
size of different earthquakes and is especially useful for comparing the sizes of large
earthquakes. The seismic moment of an earthquake is typically estimated using whatever
information to constrain its factors. For modern earthquakes, moment is usually estimated from
ground motion recordings of earthquakes known as seismograms. For earthquakes that occurred
in times before modern instruments were available, moment may be estimated from geologic
estimates of the size of the fault rupture and the slip.

SEISMIC ENERGY
Both the magnitude and the seismic moment are related to the amount of energy that is
radiated by an earthquake. Richter, working with Gutenberg, early on developed a relationship
between magnitude and energy. Their relationship is:

log10 E = 11.8 + 1.5M

where E is expressed in ergs. This relationship was later shown (Kanamori, 1983) to be
applicable to moment magnitude as well. It implies that unit change in magnitude corresponds to
a 101.5 or 32-fold increase in seismic energy. A magnitude 5 earthquake therefore would release
only about 0.001 times the energy of a magnitude 7 earthquake, thereby illustrating the
ineffectiveness of small earthquakes in relieving the buildup of strain energy that causes very
large earthquakes. Combining the moment magnitude equation Mw = – 10.7 and Mw

Therefore, if M is increased by just 0.2, the energy released is doubled; and when M is
increased by 1.0, the energy is increased 32-fold. However, the formula is empirical and does not
hold true for heavy earthquakes. Comparing this equation; log10 E = 11.8 + 1.5M to log10m =
16.1 + 1.5M, it is evident that the seismic energy is proportional to the seismic moment and is

E = m x 10-4

where m denotes the seismic moment in dyne-cm and E the seismic energy in erg.
FORESHOCK

 An earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to
it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake
as foreshock, mainshock or aftershock is only possible after the full sequence of events
has happened.
 They occur from a matter of minutes to days or even longer before the main shock; for
example, the 2002 Sumatra earthquake is regarded as a foreshock of the 2004 Indian
Ocean earthquake with a delay of more than two years between the two events.

2002 Sumatra
Earthquake 2004 Indian Ocean

AFTERSHOCKS

 a smaller earthquake following the main shock of a large earthquake.

 a sudden movement of the earth’s surface that often follows an earthquake and is
less violent than the first main movement
 echoes of the large earthquake

EARTHQUAKE SWARMS

 Earthquake swarms are earthquake sequences without a discernible main-

shock. Swarms can last weeks and produce many thousands of earthquakes within a
relatively small volume. Swarms are observed in volcanic environments, hydrothermal
systems, and other active geothermal areas.
 Earthquake swarms are events where a local area experiences sequences of
many earthquakes striking in a relatively short period of time. The length of time used to
define the swarm itself varies, but may be of the order of days, weeks, or months.
FAULTS AND FAULTING
Faults
Fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. The movement
between two portions of the crust will occur on new or preexisting offsets in the geologic
structure of the crust. Faults may range in length from several meters to hundreds of kilometers
and extend from the ground surface to depths of several tens of kilometers.

Faulting
Faulting occurs when shear stress on a rock overcomes the forces which hold it together.
The fracture itself is called a fault plane.

Faulting Geometry

 Dip
It is the angle that describes the steepness of
the fault surface. This angle is measured from Earth’s
surface, or a plane parallel to the Earth’s surface.
The dip of the horizontal fault is 0 degrees, and
the dip of a vertical fault is 90 degrees.
The material resting on the fault is called the
hanging wall.
The material beneath the fault is called the foot
wall.

 Strike
It is an angle used to specify the
orientation of the fault and measured clockwise
from north.
  Slip
The slip has two components, a
magnitude and a direction.
The magnitude of slip tells how far the
two sides of the fault moved relative to one
another.
The direction of slip is measured on the
fault surface, and it is specified as an angle.
Specifically, the slip direction is the direction
that the hanging wall moved relative to the
footwall.

Fault Movement

 Dip Slip Movement

Fault movement that occurs primarily in the direction of the dip (or perpendicular
to the strike). Dip slip movement occurs when the hanging wall moved predominantly up
or down relative to the footwall.

 Strike Slip Movement

Fault movement occurring parallel to the strike. It is when the hanging wall
moves horizontally, it’s a strike-slip earthquake.

 Oblique Slip Movement

When the hanging wall motion is neither dominantly vertical nor horizontal.

Types of Faults

 Dip-slip fault - a fault produced by a vertical dislocation. It can be either “normal” or

“reverse”.
 Normal Faults – it forms when the hanging wall drops down in relation to the
footwall.
 Reverse Faults – it forms when the hanging wall moves up. The forces creating
reverse faults are compressional, pushing the sides together.
 Thrust Faults – a special type of reverse fault. It occurs when the fault plane has a
small dip angle. The hanging wall is thrust up and the footwall is pushed down
due to compression of plates against each other.
 Normal Fault Reverse Fault

 Strike-slip fault - a fault produced by a dislocation in a horizontal direction. It has walls

that move sideways. It either “right-lateral” or “left-lateral”.

Strike-slip Faults
THE CENTROID MOMENT TENSOR PROJECT
A seismic moment tensor is the complete mathematical representation of the movement
on a fault during an earthquake, comprising of the couples of forces that produced it, of the de
description of the fault geometry and of its size by means of the scalar seismic moment M.
Seismic moment tensor solutions are used to identify the activated faults during a seismic
sequence, to understand their kinematics and consequently to sketch the short-term possible
evolving scenarios.
For large global earthquakes, several research groups and agencies in the world produce
routinely seismic moment tensors. Those having at present the longest experience and the
greatest regularity are primarily the Global CMT (previously Harvard CMT) group and the
United States Geological Service.

The Global Centroid-Moment-Tensor (CMT) Project

The Global Centroid-Moment-Tensor (CMT) Project is overseen by Principal
Investigator Göran Ekström and Co-Principal Investigator Meredith Nettles at the Lamont-
Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of Columbia University.

The project was founded by Adam Dziewonski at Harvard University and operated there
as the Harvard CMT Project from 1982-2006, led first by Prof. Dziewonski and later by Prof.
Ekström. During the summer of 2006, the main activities of the CMT Project moved with Prof.
Ekström to LDEO. This research effort is moving forward under the name "The Global CMT
Project".
The CMT project has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation
since its inception, and is currently supported by award EAR-082469

The Global CMT Project involves four main activites:

1. Systematic determination, with a three-to-four-month delay, of moment tensors for

earthquakes with M>5 globally, and accumulation of the results in the CMT catalog.
2. Rapid determination of moment tensors for earthquakes with M>5.5 globally and quick
dissemination of results ("quick CMTs").
3. Curation of the CMT catalog, which contains more than 25,000 moment tensors for
earthquakes since 1976.
 4. Development and implementation of improved methods for the quantification of
earthquake source characteristics on a global scale.

EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE
Earthquake magnitude is a measure of the “size,” or amplitude, of the seismic waves
generated by an earthquake source and recorded by seismographs. Because the size of
earthquakes varies enormously, it is necessary for purposes of comparison to compress the range
of wave amplitudes measured on seismograms by means of a mathematical device. Earthquake
magnitude is simply the qualitative measurement of earthquake size of ground shaking.
In 1934 the American seismologist Charles F. Richter developed the Ritcher scale.
He set up a magnitude scale of earthquakes as the logarithm to base 10 of the maximum seismic
wave amplitude recorded on a standard seismograph at a distance of 100 km from the
earthquake epicentre. Reduction of amplitudes observed at various distances to the amplitudes
expected at the standard distance of 100 km is made on the basis of empirical tables.

Richter first applied his magnitude scale to shallow-focus earthquakes recorded within
600 km of the epicentre in the southern California region. Later, additional empirical tables were
set up, whereby observations made at distant stations and on seismographs other than the
standard type could be used. Empirical tables were extended to cover earthquakes of all
significant focal depths and to enable independent magnitude estimates to be made from body-
and surface-wave observations.

Richter scale of Earthquake Magnitude

magnitude earthquakes per

category effects
level year

less than 1.0 to generally not felt by people, though recorded

Micro more than 100,000
2.9 on local instruments

3.0–3.9 Minor felt by many people; no damage 12,000–100,000

4.0–4.9 Light felt by all; minor breakage of objects 2,000–12,000

5.0–5.9 moderate some damage to weak structures 200–2,000

6.0–6.9 Strong moderate damage in populated areas 20–200

7.0–7.9 Major serious damage over large areas; loss of life 3–20
magnitude earthquakes per
category effects
level year

severe destruction and loss of life over large

8.0 and higher Great fewer than 3
areas

Moment Magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted as Mw or M) is one of many seismic
magnitude scales used to measure the size of earthquakes. The moment magnitude is based on
the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the shear modulus of the rock near the
fault multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of the area that slipped.
The scale was developed in the 1970s to succeed the 1930s-era Richter magnitude
scale (ML). Even though the formulas are different, the new scale was designed to produce
magnitude values for a given earthquake similar to those produced by the older one.

Moment magnitude (Mw) was introduced in 1979 by Hanks and Kanamori and has since
become the most commonly used method of describing the size of a microseism. Moment
magnitude measures the size of events in terms of how much energy is released. Specifically,
moment magnitude relates to the amount of movement by rock (i.e. the distance of movement
along a fault or fracture) and the area of the fault or fracture surface. Since moment magnitude
can describe something physical about the event, calculated values can be easily compared to
magnitude values for other events. The moment magnitude is also a more accurate scale for
describing the size of events.

Since magnitude scales are logarithmic, an increase of one unit of magnitude on a

magnitude scale is equivalent to an increase of 10 times the amplitude recorded by a
seismograph and approximately 30 times the energy. In the image above, the diameter of the
circle is proportional to the energy of an event at moment magnitude +1 versus moment
magnitude +2.

SEISMIC INTENSITY
Seismic intensity scales categorize the intensity or severity of ground shaking at a given
location, such as resulting from an earthquake. Intensity is a number (written as a Roman
numeral) describing the severity of an earthquake in terms of its effects on the earth's surface and
on humans and their structures. Several scales exist, but the ones most commonly used in the
United States are the Rossi-Forel scale and the Modified Mercalli scale.
The intensity is a qualitative description of the effects of the earthquake at a particular
location, as evidenced by observed damage and human reactions at that location.

Rossi – Forel Scale

The Rossi–Forel scale was one of the first seismic scales to reflect earthquake intensities.
Developed by Michele Stefano Conte de Rossi of Italy and François-Alphonse
Forel of Switzerland in the late 19th century, it was used for about two decades until the
introduction of the Mercalli intensity scale in 1902.

The 1873 version of the Rossi–Forel scale had 10 intensity levels:

I. Micro seismic shock: recorded by a single seismograph or by seismographs of the
same model, but not by several seismographs of different kinds; the shock felt by an
experienced observer.
II. Extremely feeble shock: recorded by several seismographs of different kinds; felt by a
small number of persons at rest.
III. Very feeble shock: felt by several persons at rest; strong enough for the direction or
duration to be appreciable.
IV. Feeble shock: felt by persons in motion; disturbances of movable objects, doors,
windows; creaking of ceilings.
V. Shock of moderate intensity: felt generally by everyone; disturbance of furniture,
beds, etc., ringing of swinging bells.
VI. Fairly strong shock: general awakening of those asleep; general ringing of house
bells; oscillation of chandeliers; stopping of pendulum clocks ; visible agitation of
trees and shrubs ; some startled persons leave their dwellings.
VII. Strong shock: overthrow of movable objects; fall of plaster; ringing of church bells;
general panic, without damage to buildings.
VIII. Very strong shock: falI of chimneys, cracks in walls of buildings.
IX. Extremely strong shock: partial or total destruction of some buildings.
X. Shock of extreme intensity: great disaster, buildings ruined, disturbance of the strata,
fissures in the ground, rock-falls from mountains.

Modified Mercalli Scale

The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM or MMI), descended from Giuseppe
Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring
the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake.
The Italian volcanologist Giuseppe Mercalli formulated his first intensity scale in 1883. It
had six degrees or categories, has been described as "merely an adaptation" of the then
standard Rossi–Forel scale of ten degrees. Mercalli's second scale, published in 1902, was also
an adaptation of the Rossi‒Forel scale, retaining the ten degrees and expanding the descriptions
of each degree.
 In 1904 Adolfo Cancani proposed adding two additional degrees for very strong
earthquakes, "catastrophe" and "enormous catastrophe", thus creating the 12 degree scale. His
descriptions being deficient, Heinrich Sieberg augmented them in 1912 and 1923, and indicated
a peak ground acceleration (PGA) for each degree. This became known as the "Mercalli–
Cancani scale, formulated by Sieberg", or the "Mercalli–Cancani–Sieberg scale", or simply
"MCS", and used extensively in Europe.

Abbreviated Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale

I. Not felt except by a very few under especially favorable conditions.

II. Felt only by a few persons at rest, especially on upper floors of buildings.

III. Felt quite noticeably by persons indoors, especially on upper floors of buildings.
Many people do not recognize it as an earthquake. Standing motor cars may rock slightly.
Vibrations similar to the passing of a truck. Duration estimated.

IV. Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few during the day. At night, some awakened.
Dishes, windows, doors disturbed; walls make cracking sound. Sensation like heavy truck
striking building. Standing motor cars rocked noticeably.

V. Felt by nearly everyone; many awakened. Some dishes, windows broken. Unstable
objects overturned. Pendulum clocks may stop.

VI. Felt by all, many frightened. Some heavy furniture moved; a few instances of fallen
plaster. Damage slight.

VII. Damage negligible in buildings of good design and construction; slight to moderate
in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed
structures; some chimneys broken.

VIII. Damage slight in specially designed structures; considerable damage in ordinary

substantial buildings with partial collapse. Damage great in poorly built structures. Fall of
chimneys, factory stacks, columns, monuments, walls. Heavy furniture overturned.

IX. Damage considerable in specially designed structures; well-designed frame structures

thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse.
Buildings shifted off foundations.

X. Some well-built wooden structures destroyed; most masonry and frame structures
destroyed with foundations. Rails bent.

XI. Few, if any (masonry) structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Rails bent
greatly.
 XII. Damage total. Lines of sight and level are distorted. Objects thrown into the air.

MSK – 64 Scale
The Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale, also known as the MSK or MSK-64, is a
macroseismic intensity scale used to evaluate the severity of ground shaking on the basis of
observed effects in an area of the earthquake occurrence.

The scale was first proposed by Sergei Medvedev (USSR), Wilhelm Sponheuer (East Germany),
and Vít Kárník (Czechoslovakia) in 1964. It was based on the experiences being available in the
early 1960s from the application of the Modified Mercalli intensity scale and the 1953 version of
the Medvedev scale, known also as the GEOFIAN scale.[1]
With minor modifications in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the MSK scale became widely used
in Europe and the USSR. In early 1990s, the European Seismological Commission (ESC) used
many of the principles formulated in the MSK in the development of the European Macroseismic
Scale, which is now a de facto standard for evaluation of seismic intensity in European countries.
MSK-64 is still being used in India, Israel, Russia, and throughout the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
The Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale is somewhat similar to the Modified Mercalli (MM)
scale used in the United States. The MSK scale has 12 intensity degrees expressed in Roman
numerals (to prevent the use of decimals):

Comparison of Richter Scale and Mercalli Intensity Scale

Magnitude and Intensity measure different characteristics of earthquakes. Magnitude
measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake. Magnitude is determined from
measurements on seismographs, however, intensity measures the strength of shaking produced
by the earthquake at a certain location. Intensity is determined from effects on people, human
structures, and the natural environment.

Intensity Observations (Mercalli) Richter

(Mercalli) Scale
Magnitude
(approx.
comparison)

I No effect 1 to 2
II Noticed only by sensitive people 2 to 3
III Resembles vibrations caused by heavy traffic 3 to 4
IV Felt by people walking; rocking of free standing objects 4

V Sleepers awakened; bells ring 4 to 5

VI Trees sway, some damage from falling objects 5 to 6
VII General alarm, cracking of walls 6
VIII Chimneys fall and some damage to building 6 to 7
IX 7
Ground crack, houses begin to collapse, pipes break

X Ground badly cracked, many buildings destroyed. Some 7 to 8

landslides

XI 8
Few buildings remain standing, bridges destroyed.

XII Total destruction; objects thrown in air, shaking and 8 or greater

distortion of ground