ELEMENTS OF SEISMOLOGY

Seismology is the study of earthquakes and seismic waves that move through and around the earth.

● Improve earthquake monitoring

● Improve understanding of earthquake occurrence
● Improve fundamental knowledge of earthquake effects
● Improve the seismic design of structures

TYPES OF SEISMOLOGY

A. OBSERVATIONAL SEISMOLOGY
● Recording earthquakes (microseismology)
● Cataloguing earthquakes
● Observing earthquake effects (macroseismology)

B. ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY
● Estimation of seismic hazard and risk
● Aseismic building

C. PHYSICAL SEISMOLOGY
● Study of the properties of the earth’s interior
● Study of the physical characteristics of seismic sources

THE EARTH’S INTERIOR

A. CRUST: THE LITHOSPHERE (Where the Life Exist)
The crust is only about 3-5 miles thick under the oceanic crust and about 25 miles thick under the
continental crust. The temperatures of the crust vary from air temperature on top to about 870 degrees
Celsius in the deepest parts of the crust.

The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called plates. The plates "float" on the soft,
plastic mantle which is located below the crust. These plates usually move along smoothly but sometimes
they stick and build up pressure. The pressure builds and the rock bends until it snaps. When this occurs
an Earthquake is the result. The crust is composed of two basic rock types, granite and basalt. The
continental crust is composed mostly of granite. The oceanic crust consists of a volcanic lava rock called
basalt. The crust and the upper layer of the mantle together make up a zone of rigid, brittle rock called the
Lithosphere. The layer below the rigid lithosphere is a zone of asphalt-like consistency called the
Asthenosphere. The asthenosphere is the part of the mantle that flows and moves the plates of the Earth.

B. MANTLE
The mantle is the layer located directly under the sima (the lower layer of the Earth’s crust). It is
the largest layer of the Earth, 1800 miles thick. The mantle is composed of very hot, dense rock. This
layer of rock even flows like asphalt under a heavy weight. This flow is due to great temperature
differences from the bottom to the top of the mantle. The movement of the mantle is the reason that the
plates of the Earth move! The temperature of the mantle varies from 1600 degrees Fahrenheit at the top to
about 4000 degrees Fahrenheit near the bottom.

1. The upper mantle (Asthenosphere) reaching a depth of about 400km made of olivine and pyroxene.
2. The lower mantle (Mesosphere) which is a homogeneous mass of magnesium and iron oxide and
quartz.

C. CORE

The outer core is so hot that the metals in it are all in the liquid state. The outer core is located
about 1800 miles beneath the crust and is about 1400 miles thick. The outer core is composed of the
melted metals nickel and iron.

The inner core of the Earth has temperatures and pressures so great that the metals are squeezed
together and are not able to move about like a liquid, but are forced to vibrate in place as a solid. The
inner core begins about 4000 miles beneath the crust and is about 800 miles thick.

Earthquake is a 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.”

The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction.
When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy in waves
that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel.
FOLDING AND FAULTING occur when pressure deep within the lithosphere cause the earth’s
surface to buckle, bend and even split apart.

FOLDING
- when the earth’s crust is pushed up from its sides at a very slow rate. Fold mountains occur where the
crust is pushed up as plates collide which causes the crust to rise up in folds.

FAULTING
- when tension and compression associated with plate movement is so great that blocks of rock fracture
or break apart. This process can occur very rapidly which causes the ground to shake and vibrate resulting
in earthquakes.

FAULTS
-weak points in the earth’s crust and upper mantle where the rock layers have ruptured and slipped.

TECTONIC PLATES
-cover the whole lithosphere which made up of rigid plates that move relative to each other. The six major
tectonic plates are: American, African, Eurasian, Pacific, India-Australian and Antarctican.

CAUSE OF AN EARTHQUAKE

1. TECTONIC – caused by the sudden release of energy stored within the rocks along a fault. The released
energy is produced by the strain on the rocks due to movement of tectonic plates.

2. VOLCANIC – caused by an upward movement of magma under the volcano which fractures
rock masses and cause continuous tremors.

3. HUMAN ACTIVITIES – some human activities increase the strain within the rocks near the location
of the activity so that rocks slip and slide along pre-existing faults more easily

EFFECTS OF AN EARTHQUAKE

DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS
Seismic vulnerability of structures varies as a function of construction materials and earthquake
action-resisting system employed. Damage is classified under the categories of structural members,
connections and systems.

DAMAGE TO LIFELINES
Lifelines are those services that are vital to health and safety of communities and the functioning
of urban and industrial regions. These include electric power, gas, water, and wastewater systems.
Infrastructures, such as transportation systems (highways and railways), bridges, ports and airports are
also classified as lifelines. Damage to lifelines imposes devastating economic effects on the community.

PLATE MOVEMENT
• “Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by the underlying hot mantle convection cells
• Tectonic plates are the large part of lithosphere ‘floating’ on the asthenosphere
• Plate motion is driven by heat escaping from the mantle. The constant movement of the heat in
the mantle leads to circular convection currents.
• Convective currents move them around with velocities of several cm/year.

The plates interact with one another in three basic ways:

• They collide
• They move away from each other
• They slide one past another

PLATE BOUNDARIES
There are three basic ways that plates interact with one another. Each of these
plate boundaries has the potential to create different geological features.

1. Divergent or rift zones - where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other.
Plates separate themselves from one another and either an effusion of magma occurs of the lithosphere
diverges from the interior of the Earth. Rifts are distinct from mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust
and lithosphere is created by sea-floor spreading.
2. Convergent or subduction zones- where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another.
Adjacent plates converge and collide. A subduction process carries the slab-like plate, known as the
‘under-thrusting plate’, into a dipping zone. Two types of convergent zones exist:
A. Oceanic lithosphere convergent boundary occurs when two plates consisting of oceanic lithosphere
collide. Oceanic rock is mafic, and heavy compared to continental rock, therefore, it sinks easily and is
destroyed in a subduction zone.
B. Continental lithosphere convergent boundary occurs when both grinding plates consist of continental
lithosphere. Continents are composed of lightweight rock and hence do not subduct.

3. Transform zones or transcurrent horizontal slip. Two plates glide past one another but without creating
new lithosphere or subducting old lithosphere. Transform faults can be found either in continental or
oceanic lithosphere.