INTRODUCTION

Earthquakes are among the most deadly natural hazards. There are around 100
earthquakes each year of a size that could cause serious damage. They strike without
warning and many of the Earth’s earthquake zones coincide with areas of high
population density. When large earthquakes occur in such areas the results can be
catastrophic, with terrible loss of human lives and untold economic cost.

Seismology is the study of earthquakes and seismic waves. The seismograph records
the seismic waves generated by earthquakes, allowing the seismologist to determine
where, and how deep, a particular earthquake is. Also, the seismic waves from
earthquakes can be used to image the deep interior of the Earth, providing vital clues to
the internal structure of our planet.

EARTHQUAKE

Movements within the Earth’s crust cause stress to build up at points of weakness, and
rocks to deform. Stored energy builds up in the same way as energy builds up in the
spring of a watch when it is wound. When the stress finally exceeds the strength of the
rock, the rock fractures along a fault, often at a zone of existing weakness within the
rock. The stored energy is suddenly released as an earthquake.
Intense vibrations, or seismic waves, spread out from the initial point of rupture, the
focus, like ripples on a pond. These waves are what makes the ground shake and can
travel large distances in all directions. Near the focus, the waves can be very large,
making them extremely destructive.

Earthquakes are caused by the movement of the earth's tectonic plates. Earthquakes
occur where the earth's plates meet along plate boundaries (see plate tectonics page
for more information on this).For example as two plates move towards each other, one
can be pushed down under the other one into the mantle. If this plate gets stuck it
causes a lot of pressure on surrounding rocks. When this pressure is released it
produces shock waves. These are called seismic waves. This is an earthquake. The
waves spread out from the point where the earthquake started - the focus. More
damage is done near the focus. The point on the earth's surface directly above the
focus is the epicentre.
 Just below the epicenter is the place where the earth actually moves. That place is
called the hypocenter of an earthquake. That is really where the earthquake starts.

Faults are almost vertical weak spots or fractures in the

bedrock found in the Earth's crust. These weak spots can
rub against each other three different ways.
Strike-slip faults move mostly from side to side, but they
can move from side to side.
Dip slip faults are leaning faults. If the dip-slip fault
makes one of the pieces of land move upward, it is called
a normal fault. If part of the land moves up then it is
called a thrust fault.

An earthquake starts below the earth at the focus point. The focus point is where the
earth fractures. When it reaches the surface of the earth that spot is called the
epicenter.

After an earthquake has finished shaking the earth and things are quiet for awhile,
new smaller shakes happen. These are not usually as strong as the earthquake
itself, but aftershocks do make the earth shake. The stronger the earthquake is
determines how long aftershocks will occur and how strong the aftershocks will be.
Stronger earthquakes make stronger aftershocks that can happen even years after
the main earthquake.

Buildings on top of the

Earth's crust tremble and
we can see and feel that.
Seismic waves called
body waves also move
through the inside of the
earth. They move away
from the epicenter in all
directions at the same
speed a lot like the waves
in a puddle move when a
rock is dropped into it.
These waves are called P
waves.

FOCUS AND EPICENTRE

The place where the plates hit each other under the ground is called the focus. The
place on the land directly above the focus is called the epicentre. It is at the epicentre
that the earthquake is the strongest. And if you move away from the epicentre, the
earthquake will become lighter.

FAULTS

A fault is a large crack in the Earth's crust where one part of the crust has moved
against another part. This movement means that faults prove the Earth is an active
place. They are signs of powerful forces deep underground.
The parts of a fault are (1) the fault plane, (2) the fault trace, (3) the hanging wall and (4)
the footwall. The fault plane is where the action is. It is a flat surface that may be vertical
or sloping. The line it makes on the Earth's surface is the fault trace. Where the fault
plane is sloping, the upper side is the hanging wall and the lower side is the footwall.
When the fault plane is vertical, there is no hanging wall or footwall.
Any fault plane can be completely described with two measurements: its strike and its
dip. The strike is the direction of the fault trace on the Earth's surface. The dip is the
measurement of how steeply the fault plane slopes—if you dropped a marble on the
fault plane, it would roll exactly down the direction of dip.
It's important to know a fault's type: normal, reverse or strike-
slip. The type reflects the kind of forces that are acting on the
fault.
Normal faults form when the hanging wall drops down. The
forces that create normal faults are pulling the sides apart, or
extensional.
Reverse faults form when the hanging wall moves up. The
forces creating reverse faults are compressional, pushing the
sides together.
Together, normal and reverse faults are called dip-slip faults,
because the movement on them occurs along the dip direction
—either down or up, respectively.
Strike-slip faults have walls that move sideways, not up or down.
That is, the slip occurs along the strike, not up or down the dip.
In these faults the fault plane is usually vertical, so there is no
hanging wall or footwall. The forces creating these faults are
lateral or horizontal, carrying the sides past each other.
Strike-slip faults are either right-lateral or left-lateral. That means
someone standing near the fault trace and looking across it
would see the far side move to the right or to the left,
U.S. Geological Survey image
respectively. The one in the picture is left-lateral.
In reality, many faults show a combination of dip-slip and strike-slip motion. Geologists
use more sophisticated measurements to analyze these fault movements. The Natural
Fractures site has a page with more rigorous detail on these.
You can judge a fault's type from looking at the focal mechanism diagrams of
earthquakes that occur on it—those are the "beachball" symbols you'll often see on
earthquake sites.
TYPES OF EARTHQUAKE WAVES
Earthquake shaking and damage is the result of three basic types of elastic waves. Two
of the three propagate within a body of rock. The faster of these body waves is called
the primary or P wave. Its motion is the same as that of a sound wave in that, as it
spreads out, it alternately pushes (compresses) and pulls (dilates) the rock. These P
waves are able to travel through both solid rock, such as granite mountains, and liquid
material, such as volcanic magma or the water of the oceans.

The slower wave through the body of rock is called the secondary or S wave. As an S
wave propagates, it shears the rock sideways at right angles to the direction of travel. If
a liquid is sheared sideways or twisted, it will not spring back, hence S waves cannot
propagate in the liquid parts of the earth, such as oceans and lakes.
The actual speed of P and S seismic waves depends on the density and elastic
properties of the rocks and soil through which they pass. In most earthquakes, the P
waves are felt first. The effect is similar to a sonic boom that bumps and rattles
windows. Some seconds later, the S waves arrive with their up-and-down and side-to-
side motion, shaking the ground surface vertically and horizontally. This is the wave
motion that is so damaging to structures.
The third general type of earthquake wave is called a surface wave, reason being is that
its motion is restricted to near the ground surface. Such waves correspond to ripples of
water that travel across a lake.
Surface waves in earthquakes can be divided into two types. The first is called a Love
wave. Its motion is essentially that of S waves that have no vertical displacement; it
moves the ground from side to side in a horizontal plane but at right angles to the
direction of propagation. The horizontal shaking of Love waves is particuly damaging to
the foundations of structures.

The second type of surface wave is known as a Rayleigh wave. Like rolling ocean
waves, Rayleigh waves wave move both vertically and horizontally in a vertical plane
pointed in the direction in which the waves are travelling.
Surface waves travel more slowly than body waves (P and S); and of the two surface
waves, Love waves generally travel faster than Rayleigh waves. Love waves (do not
propagate through water) can effect surface water only insofar as the sides of lakes and
ocean bays pushing water sideways like the sides of a vibrating tank, whereas Rayleigh
waves, becasuse of their vertical component of their motion can affect the bodies of
water such as lakes.
P and S waves have a characteristic which effects shaking: when they move through
layers of rock in the crust, they are reflected or refracted at the interfaces between rock
types. Whenever either wave is refracted or reflected, some of the energy of one type is
converted to waves of the other type. A common example; a P wave travels upwards
and strikes the bottom of a layer of alluvium, part of its energy will pass upward through
the alluvium as a P wave and part will pass upward as the converted S-wave motion.
Noting also that part of the energy will also be reflected back downward as P and S
waves.
Rayleigh waves
Rayleigh waves, also called ground roll, are surface waves that travel as ripples with
motions that are similar to those of waves on the surface of water (note, however, that
the associated particle motion at shallow depths is retrograde, and that the restoring
force in Rayleigh and in other seismic waves is elastic, not gravitational as for water
waves). The existence of these waves was predicted by John William Strutt, Lord
Rayleigh, in 1885. They are slower than body waves, roughly 90% of the velocity of S
waves for typical homogeneous elastic media.
L waves or Love waves
Love waves are surface waves that cause circular shearing of the ground. They are
named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who created a mathematical model of
the waves in 1911. They usually travel slightly faster than Rayleigh waves, about 90%
of the S wave velocity. They are faster than Rayleigh waves and have the largest
amplitude.
CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKES
Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy along faults.
• Elastic-Rebound Hypothesis - The idea that strain builds up in rock until the
elastic limit (strength) of the rock is exceeded. The rock then ruptures (fails) at a
point, snapping back toward an unstrained position. releasing the elastic energy
as seismic waves radiating outward from the break. The greater the stored strain,
the greater the release of energy.
• Seismic and Volcanic Activity - The coincidence of many active volcanic belts
with major belts of earthquake activity indicates that volcanoes and earthquakes
 may have a common cause. Plate interactions commonly cause both
earthquakes and volcanoes.
DISTRIBUTION
Most earthquakes (about 95%) occur in seismic belts along the margins of tectonic
plates. Enormous pressure is built up at plate boundaries, particularly convergent and
transform boundaries. The pressure is ultimately released as earthquakes.

• Frequency - More than 150,000 earthquakes strong enough to be felt by

someone are recorded annually worldwide. An additional 900,000 earthquakes
occur annually that are too small to be felt or recorded as separate events.
• Earthquake Distribution - Occur at convergent (primarily) and transform plate
boundaries. May occur in clusters as plates shift position.
○ Seismic Belts - There are two major earthquake belts:
1. Circum-Pacific Belt - About 80% of all earthquakes occur in this
belt, including the world's most devastating in terms of life and
property loss.
2. Mediterranean-Asiatic Belt - Accounts for about 15% of all
earthquakes.
○ Intraplate and Spreading Ridge Only about 5% of all earthquakes. Most
are not very strong, but some intraplate earthquakes are among the
largest known.
• Earthquakes and volcanoes occur primarily along plate boundaries; the
frequency and type of events vary with the type of boundary.
• Plates interact with one another at boundaries in one of three ways: they diverge,
converge, or slide past one another.
• Plates are made up of two types of crust -- oceanic and continental; oceanic
crust is thinner and denser that continental crust. A single plate can have both
continental and oceanic crust.
• Gravity and mantle convection are two driving forces for the movement of plates.

Effects/impacts of earthquakes

The effects of earthquakes include, but are not limited to, the following:
Shaking and ground rupture
Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally
resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures. The
severity of the local effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake
magnitude, the distance from the epicenter, and the local geological and
geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave propagation. The
ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration.
Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce high
levels of shaking on the ground surface even from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect
is called site or local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic
motion from hard deep soils to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy
focalization owing to typical geometrical setting of the deposits.
Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the
trace of the fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major
earthquakes. Ground rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as
dams, bridges and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing
faults to identify any likely to break the ground surface within the life of the structure.
Landslides and avalanches
Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, coastal wave attack, and
wildfires, can produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard.
Landslide danger may persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.
Fires

Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of
water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the
spread of a fire once it has started. For example, more deaths in the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake were caused by fire than by the earthquake itself.
Soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular
material (such as sand) temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a
liquid. Soil liquefaction may cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or
sink into the liquefied deposits. This can be a devastating effect of earthquakes. For
example, in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, soil liquefaction caused many buildings to sink
into the ground, eventually collapsing upon themselves.
Tsunami

The tsunami of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or

abrupt movement of large volumes of water. In the open ocean the distance between
wave crests can surpass 100 kilometers (62 miles), and the wave periods can vary from
five minutes to one hour. Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour (373–497
miles per hour), depending on water depth. Large waves produced by an earthquake or
a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas in a matter of minutes.
Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across open ocean and wreak
destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.
Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale do not
cause tsunamis, although some instances of this have been recorded. Most destructive
tsunamis are caused by earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.
Floods
A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches land. Floods occur usually
when the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the
total capacity of the formation, and as a result some of the water flows or sits outside of
the normal perimeter of the body. However, floods may be secondary effects of
earthquakes, if dams are damaged. Earthquakes may cause landslips to dam rivers,
which then collapse and cause floods.[36]
The terrain below the Sarez Lake in Tajikistan is in danger of catastrophic flood if the
landslide dam formed by the earthquake, known as the Usoi Dam, were to fail during a
future earthquake. Impact projections suggest the flood could affect roughly 5 million
people.
Tidal forces
Research work has shown a robust correlation between small tidally induced forces and
non-volcanic tremor activity.
Human impacts

Damaged infrastructure, one week after the 2007 Peru earthquake

Earthquakes may lead to disease, lack of basic necessities, loss of life, higher
insurance premiums, general property damage, road and bridge damage, and collapse
or destabilization (potentially leading to future collapse) of buildings. Earthquakes can
also precede volcanic eruptions, which cause further problems; for example, substantial
crop damage, as in the "Year Without a Summer"
The Structure of the Earth
Most of what we know about the interior of the Earth comes from the study of seismic
waves from earthquakes. Seismic waves from large earthquakes pass throughout the
Earth. These waves contain vital information about the internal structure of the Earth. As
seismic waves pass through the Earth, they are refracted, or bent, like rays of light bend
when they pass though a glass prism. Because the speed of the seismic waves
depends on density, we can use the travel-time of seismic waves to map change in
density with depth, and show that the Earth is composed of several layers.
The Crust: this brittle outermost layer varies in thickness from 25 to 60 km under
continents, and from 4 to 6 km under the oceans. Continental crust is quite complex in
structure and is made from many different kinds of rocks.

The Mantle: below the crust lies the dense Mantle, extending to a depth of 2890 km. It
consists of dense silicate rocks. Both P- and S-waves from earthquakes travel through
the mantle, demonstrating that it is solid. However, there is separate evidence that parts
of the Mantle behaves as a fluid over very long geological times scales, with rocks
flowing slowly in giant convection cells.

The Core: at a depth of 2890 km is the boundary between the Mantle and the Earth's
Core. The Core is composed of Iron and we know that it exists because it refracts
seismic waves creating a “shadow zone” at distances between 103º and 143º. We also
know that the outer part of the Core is liquid, because S-waves do not pass through it.
How We Measure Them
A seismogram is a record of the seismic waves from an earthquake. A seismograph or
seismometer is the measuring instrument that creates the seismogram. Almost all seismometers
are based on the principle of inertia: a suspended mass tends to remain still when the ground
moves. The relative motion between the suspended mass and the ground will then be a measure

of the ground’s motion.

On a seismogram from an earthquake, the P-wave is the first signal to arrive, followed by the
slower S-wave, then the surface waves. The arrival times of the P- and S-waves at different
seismographs are used to determine the location of the earthquake. Given that we know the
relative speed of P- and S-waves, the time difference between the arrivals of the P- and S-waves
determines the distance the earthquake is from the seismograph.

By looking at the seismograms from different recording stations we can find out the epicentre of
the earthquake. The signals arrive first at the closest station and last at the one furthest away. The
time difference between the P- and S-waves tells us the distance the earthquake is from the
seismograph. By measuring this at three stations we can work out where the epicentre is.
We need measurements from at least three stations to find the epicentre. The intersection of the
circles whose radius is equivalent to the distance from the earthquake gives the epicentre.
We can determine how big an earthquake is by measuring the size of the signal directly from the
seismogram. However, we also have to know how far away the earthquake was. This is because
the amplitude of the seismic waves decreases with distance, so we must correct for this.

In 1932 Charles Richter devised the first magnitude scale for measuring earthquake size. This is
commonly known as the Richter scale. Richter used observations of earthquakes in California to
determine a reference event; the magnitude of an earthquake is calculated by comparing the
maximum amplitude of the signal with this reference event at a specific distance. The Richter
Scale is logarithmic, that means that the amplitude of a magnitude 6 earthquake is ten times
greater than a magnitude 5 earthquake.
Since then, a number of different magnitude scales have been developed based on different
seismic wave arrivals observed on a seismogram. Body wave magnitude, mb, is determined by
measuring the amplitude of P-waves from distant earthquakes. Similarly, surface wave
magnitude, Ms, is determined by measuring the amplitude of surface waves.

However many magnitude scales tend to underestimate the size of large earthquakes. This led to
the development of the moment magnitude scale Mw. The advantage of Mw is that it is clearly
related to a physical property of the source, since the seismic moment is a measure of the size of
an earthquake based on the area of fault rupture, the average amount of movement, and the force
that was required to overcome the friction holding the rocks together.
How the Richter’s magnitude Scale works. The amplitude is measured from the seismogram, as
is the time difference between the arrival of the P- and S-waves. A line connecting the two
values on the graph gives the magnitude of the earthquakes.
Magnitude TNT Equivalent Example
1.0 30 lb Construction site blast
2.0 1 ton Large quarry or mine blast
3.0 29 ton
4.0 1 kiloton Small atomic bomb
5.0 32 kiloton Nagasaki atomic bomb
6.0 1 megaton Double Spring Flat, NV Quake, 1994
7.0 32 megaton Largest thermonuclear weapon
8.0 1 gigaton San Francisco, CA Quake, 1906
9.0 32 gigaton Indian Ocean Quake 2004

Destructive Effects of Earthquakes

Of the hundreds of thousands of earthquakes that occur every year, only one or two are
likely to cause severe results. Destructive effects depend on earthquake magnitude, distance from
epicenter, time of day, geology of area, type of building construction, and duration of shaking.
The most destructive earthquakes occur during working and school hours in densely populated
areas. Earthquake hazards include:
• Ground Shaking - Causes the most damage and loss of life. Buildings on bedrock move
as a unit with the ground and suffer the lower damage during an earthquake. Worst
damage occurs to buildings on poorly consolidated material or water-saturated sediment.
Structural damage depends on:
1. Earthquake magnitude - Determines the intensity and duration of vibrations.
2. Underlying geology - The nature of material supporting the foundation determines
how much damage occurs. Poorly consolidated material is subjected to longer
shaking and greater S-wave amplitudes. Water-saturated sediments tend to behave
like a fluid and flow when shaken (liquefaction).
3. Design of the structure (materials and type of construction). Adobe and mud-
walled structures are weakest. Unreinforced brick and concrete buildings have no
flexibility and tend to collapse.
• Fire - Often more dangerous that the earthquake itself. Severed gas and water lines can
lead to devastating fires. Valves can be installed to cut off lines from breaks.
• Tsunami (seismic sea wave) - Most result from vertical displacement of the ocean floor
or from submarine landslides during an earthquake. May also be generated from volcanic
explosions (Krakatoa). Can reach speeds up to 800 km/hr and heights up to 65 m. A
seismic sea wave warning system was established in 1948 for the Pacific basin after a
1946 tsunami killed 154 in Hawaii.
• Ground failures may include:
1. Landslides - Seldom occur farther than 40-50 km from the epicenter, but can be
the major cause of death in some earthquakes.
2. Land Movements - Earthquakes can be accompanied by significant vertical and
horizontal movement of the land surface. Fault Creep - Slow periodic movement
of the land on opposite sides of a fault. Over time, fault creep can result in
significant movement.
FORECASTING DANGER
Successful prediction or forecasting of earthquake would include time frame, magnitude
and location. Remains an elusive goal, although measurement techniques have improved
dramatically in the last 50 years:

• Seismic Risk Maps - Indicate the likelihood and potential severity of future earthquakes.
Based on historical records of past earthquakes and the distribution of known faults.
Identify areas of seismic gaps (see below) and earthquake periodicity.
• Earthquake Precursors - Most earthquakes have precursors (short term and long-term
changes in the Earth that take place prior to an earthquake). Unfortunately no reliable
precursors have been identified:
1. Seismic Gap - A region in an area of seismic activity that has had little earthquake
activity for a number of years. Represent areas along a fault that are locked and
building up stress. Points out areas which are "overdue" for an earthquake.
Seismic gaps are considered to be potential sites for major earthquakes. Long-
range predictor.
2. Crustal Tilt and Elevation Changes - Can be caused by increasing pressure in
subsurface rocks in the region of the epicenter.
3. Measured by tiltmeters.
 4. Changes in Rock Properties (Dilatancy Model) - Rock volume (dilatancy),
electrical and magnetic field changes can precede an earthquake. Caused by high
pressure producing numerous cracks in rock prior to failure.
5. Changes in Well Water Levels, and Gases - Water levels can rise in response to
increasing pressure (decreases pore space in rock). Radon levels increase.
6. Animal Behavior - Animals are more sensitive than humans to changes in the
Earth.
7. Radio Waves - Amplitude of ultralow frequency radio waves increased just prior
to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
• Earthquake Prediction Programs - Include monitoring systems along major fault zones as
well as laboratory and field studies of the behavior of rocks before, during and after
major earthquakes. The U.S., Japan, China and Russia have government-sponsored
programs. The Chinese have successfully predicted several earthquakes, but failed to
predict the 1976 Tangshan earthquake that killed 242,000.
• Tsunami Waves and Flooding
• Along the coasts,
sea waves called
tsunamis that
accompany some
large earthquakes
centered under the
ocean can cause
more death and
damage than
ground shaking.
Tsunamis are
usually made up
of several oceanic
waves that travel
out from the
slipped fault and
arrive one after
the other on shore.
They can strike
without warning,
often in places very distant from the epicenter of the earthquake. Tsunami waves are
sometimes inaccurately referred to as tidal waves, but tidal forces do not cause them.
Rather, tsunamis occur when a major fault under the ocean floor suddenly slips. The
displaced rock pushes water above it like a giant paddle, producing powerful water waves
at the ocean surface. The ocean waves spread out from the vicinity of the earthquake
source and move across the ocean until they reach the coastline, where their height
increases as they reach the continental shelf, the part of the earth's crust that slopes, or
rises, from the ocean floor up to the land. Tsunamis wash ashore with often-disastrous
effects such as severe flooding, loss of lives due to drowning, and damage to property.
 • A tsunami wave flows toward the shore after a small earthquake in the
Sundra Strait of Indonesia. Tsunamis are often mistakenly called tidal waves,
but they are not caused by the gravitational forces involved in tides. Instead,
tsunamis are believed to be caused by a tilting of the ocean floor, undersea
landslides, or undersea volcanic eruptions.

• Dieter and Mary Plage/Oxford Scientific Films

• Earthquakes can also cause water in lakes and reservoirs to slosh back and forth. This
sloshing can cause retaining walls and dams to collapse and lead to flooding and damage
downstream.
• Disease
• Catastrophic earthquakes can create a risk of widespread disease outbreaks, especially in
underdeveloped countries. Damage to water supply lines, sewage lines, and hospital
facilities as well as lack of housing may lead to conditions that contribute to the spread of
contagious diseases, such as the flu and other viral infections. In some instances, lack of
food supplies, clean water, and heating can create serious health problems as well.
• WHAT CAN WE DO TO REDUCE DAMAGE
• Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but the damage they cause can be greatly reduced with
communication strategies, proper structural design, emergency preparedness planning,
education, and safer building standards.
• Tsunami early-warning systems can prevent some damage because tsunami waves travel
at a very slow speed. Seismologists immediately send out a warning when evidence of a
large undersea earthquake appears on seismographs.
• Engineers minimize earthquake damage to buildings by using flexible, reinforced
materials that can withstand shaking in buildings.
Preparedness
1. Know your risks. Study your buildings you live in, work in or own: On
what kind of ground are they sited? How might the transportation systems
serving them be threatened? What seismic risks affect their lifelines? And
how can they be made safer for you?

2. Prepare to be self-sufficient. Not just your home, but your workplace

too should be ready for three days without water, power or food. After the
Hurricane Katrina disaster, some experts changed this recommendation to a
week's supplies.

3. Care for the most vulnerable. Individuals may be able to help their
families and immediate neighbors, but people with special needs will need
special preparations. And ensuring a decent response for vulnerable
populations and neighborhoods will take concerted, sustained action by
governments.

4. Collaborate for a regional response. Emergency responders already

do this, but the effort should extend farther: government agencies and major
industries must work together to help their regions prepare for major
earthquakes. This includes regional plans, training and exercises as well as
continuous public education.
Loss Reduction
5. Focus on dangerous buildings. Fixing buildings that are likely to
collapse will save the most lives. Mitigation measures for these buildings
include retrofitting, rebuilding and controlling occupancy to reduce exposure
to risk. Governments and building owners, working with earthquake
professionals, bear the most responsibility here.

6. Ensure essential facilities function. Every facility needed for

emergency response must be capable of not just surviving a large quake, but
remaining functional afterward. These include fire and police stations,
hospitals, schools and shelters, and emergency command posts. Much of this
task is a legal requirement in many states.

7. Invest in critical infrastructure. Energy supplies, sewage and water,

roads and bridges, rail lines and airports, dams and levees, cellular
communications—the list is long of functions that must be ready for survival
and quick recovery. Governments need to prioritize these and invest in
retrofitting or rebuilding as much as they can, keeping a long-term
perspective.

Recovery
8. Plan for regional housing. In the midst of disrupted infrastructure,
uninhabitable buildings and widespread fires, displaced people will need
relocation housing for both the short and the long term. Governments and
major industries must plan for this in collaboration.

9. Protect your financial recovery. Everyone—individuals, agencies and

businesses—must estimate what their repair and recovery costs are likely to
be after a major earthquake, then arrange a plan to cover those costs.

10. Plan for regional economic recovery. Governments at all levels must
collaborate with the insurance industry and major regional industries to
ensure the provision of relief money for individuals and for communities.
Timely funds are crucial for recovery. The better the plans, the fewer
mistakes will be made.

• Structural Design
• Geologists and engineers use risk assessment maps to understand where faults are located
and how to build near them safely.
• In urban areas of the world, the seismic risk is greater in non-reinforced buildings made
of brick, stone, or concrete blocks because they cannot resist the horizontal forces
produced by large seismic waves. Fortunately, single-family timber-frame homes built
under modern
• Emergency Preparedness Plans
• Earthquake education and preparedness plans can help significantly reduce death and
injury caused by earthquakes. People can take several preventative measures within their
homes and at the office to reduce risk. Supports and bracing for shelves reduce the
likelihood of items falling and potentially causing harm. Maintaining an earthquake
survival kit in the home and at the office is also an important part of being prepared.
• In the home, earthquake preparedness includes maintaining an earthquake kit and making
sure that the house is structurally stable. The local chapter of the American Red Cross is a
good source of information for how to assemble an earthquake kit. During an earthquake,
people indoors should protect themselves from falling objects and flying glass by taking
refuge under a heavy table. After an earthquake, people should move outside of
buildings, assemble in open spaces, and prepare themselves for aftershocks. They should
also listen for emergency bulletins on the radio, stay out of severely damaged buildings,
and avoid coastal areas in the event of a tsunami.
• In many countries, government emergency agencies have developed extensive earthquake
response plans. In some earthquake hazardous regions, such as California, Japan, and
Mexico City, modern strong motion seismographs in urban areas are now linked to a
central office. Within a few minutes of an earthquake, the magnitude can be determined,
the epicenter mapped, and intensity of shaking information can be distributed via radio to
aid in response efforts.
• Extraterrestrial quakes
• Seismic events similar to earthquakes also occur on other planets and on their satellites.
Scientific missions to Earth's moon and to Mars have provided some information related
to extraterrestrial quakes. The current Galileo mission to Jupiter's moons may provide
evidence of quakes on the moons of Jupiter.
• Between 1969 and 1977, scientists conducted the Passive Seismic Experiment as part of
the United States Apollo Program. Astronauts set up seismograph stations at five lunar
sites. Each lunar seismograph detected between 600 and 3000 moonquakes every year, a
surprising result because the moon has no tectonic plates, active volcanoes, or ocean
trench systems. Most moonquakes had magnitudes less than about 2.0 on the Richter
scale. Scientists used this information to determine the interior structure of the moon and
to examine the frequency of moonquakes.
• Besides the moon and the earth, Mars is the only other planetary body on which
seismographs have been placed. The Viking 1 and 2 spacecraft carried two seismographs
to Mars in 1976. Unfortunately, the instrument on Viking 1 failed to return signals to
earth. The instrument on Viking 2 operated, but in one year, only one wave motion was
detected. Scientists were unable to determine the interior structure of Mars with only this
single event.
• Science is still trying to Predict Earthquakes
• Seismologists try to predict how likely it is that an earthquake will occur, with a specified
time, place, and size. Earthquake prediction also includes calculating how a strong
ground motion will affect a certain area if an earthquake does occur. Scientists can use
the growing catalogue of recorded earthquakes to estimate when and where strong
seismic motions may occur. They map past earthquakes to help determine expected rates
of repetition. Seismologists can also measure movement along major faults using global
positioning satellites (GPS) to track the relative movement of the rocky crust of a few
centimeters each year along faults.
• The elastic rebound theory gives a generalized way of predicting earthquakes because it
states that a large earthquake cannot occur until the strain along a fault exceeds the
strength holding the rock masses together.