EARTHQUAKE V.

RAMALINGAM
ENV.EDN.CELL
STATE TRAINING CENTRE
DIRECTORATE OF SCHOOL
EDUCATION
PONDICHERRY
WHAT IS EARTHQUAKE?

A sudden slipping or movement

of a portion of the Earth’s crust,
caused by a sudden release of
stresses, usually less than 25
miles below the surface.
 Anguis
Terror h

Pain
Fear

Desperation
Worry

Panic Horror

Distress
Misery

Sadness
Grief
The understanding of the world in the 18th
century
was different from today …
 Depth and Temperature
Structure of Depth Temperature
the Earth
Mantle 2900 Km 870°C

Outer core 5150 Km 4400-6100°C

Inner core 6400 Km 7000°C

The Earth is a dynamic or constantly changing
planet. The thin, fragile plates slide very slowly
on the mantle's upper layer. This sliding of the
plates is caused by the mantle's convection
currents slowly turning over and over. This
overturn is like a conveyor belt that moves the
plates of the crust.

These plates are in constant motion causing

earthquakes, mountain building, volcanism,
the production of "new" crust and the
destruction of "old" crust. The following
cards will teach you more about the Earth's
plates.
 What’s a Fault?
A fault is a break in the rock that makes up
the Earth’s crust.
The surfaces on either side of the break
move past each other, becoming
displaced.
 Types of Faults
Dip Slips
Change in vertical direction (up and down).

Thrust Fault

Normal Fault
 Types of Faults
Strike Slips
Change in horizontal direction (side to
side).
Right-lateral

Left-lateral
Faults
An earthquake is a sudden, rapid
shaking of the Earth caused by the
release of energy stored in rocks.

This energy can be built up and stored for

many years and then released in seconds
or minutes.
The plates are locked together, unable to
release the accumulating energy. When
the accumulated energy grows strong
enough, the plates break free causing the
ground to shake. Most earthquakes occur
at the boundaries where the plates meet;
however, some earthquakes occur in the
middle of plates.
Earthquakes strike suddenly, without
warning.

Earthquakes can occur at any time of the

year and at any time of the day or night.

On a yearly basis, 70 to 75 damaging

earthquakes occur throughout the world.
Ground shaking from
earthquakes can collapse
buildings and bridges; disrupt
gas, electric, and phone service;
and sometimes trigger
landslides, avalanches, flash
floods, fires, and huge,
destructive ocean waves
(tsunamis).
  Focus & Epicenter

EPICENTRE
Earth’s surface
T CRU
CRUS ST

HYPOCENTER FOCUS

MANTLE

The point where the earthquakes are

generated is called focus or Hypocentre.
The point on the earth’s surface, directly
above the focus, is called the epicenter .
 250 millions
years ago the
Earth's seven
continents were
all grouped
together into a
supercontinent
called Pangea.

Notice the postion of the continents of

Antarctica (Far north of its current position),
Australia (flipped sideways and far west of its
current position) and the subcontinent of India
(Hundreds of miles from Asia).
180 Million Years Ago
135 Million Years Ago
The plates are still moving today making the
Atlantic Ocean larger and the Pacific Ocean
smaller. The yellow arrows on the world map
indicate the direction of plates movements today.
COMPLEX PLATE
BOUNDARY ZONE
IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA

Northward motion
of India deforms all
of the region

Many small plates

(microplates) and
blocks
The Indian plate crashed into the Eurasian plate
with such speed and force that it created the
tallest mountain range on Earth, the Himalayas!
What do you predict the world will look like in
100 million or 200 million years? What new
mountain ranges will form?
The Earth's crust is broken into many pieces. These
pieces are called plates . There are twelve main plates on
the Earth's surface. The lines on this map of the world
represent the largest plate boundaries.
 Tectonic Plates of the World

1
12 10

13 6
11
9

6 3
2
8 5
Legend
1 – North American Plate
2 – South American Plate
3 – African Plate
4 – Eurasian Plate 6
5 – Indo-Australian Plate
6 – Pacific Plate
7
7 – Antarctic Plate 14
8 – Nazca Plate
9 – Cocos Plate
10 – Caribbean Plate
11 – Philippine Plate
12 – Juan de Fuca Plate
13 – Arabian Plate
14 – Scotia Plate
What is the Ring of Fire?

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of frequent

earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling
the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of
Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over
50% of the world's active and dormant
volcanoes. Ninety percent of the world's
earthquakes and 81% of the world's
largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of
Fire.
Earthquake Facts
Deadliest earthquakes^
Rank Earthquake mag. Country Date Fatalitie
s
1 "Shaanxi" 8 China January 23, 1556 830,000

2 "Tangshan" 7.8 China July 27, 1976 242,000

3 "Indian 9.1 nr. December 26, 230,210
Ocean" Indonesia 2004
4 "Aleppo" 8.5 Syria August 9, 1138 230,000
5 "Damghan" ? Iran December 22, 200,000
856
"Haiyuan" 8.6 China December 16, 200
1920
1.The largest
recorded
earthquake
in the world
was a
magnitude
9.5 (Mw) in
Chile on
May 22,
1960.
The world's deadliest recorded
earthquake occurred in 1556 in central
China. killing an estimated 8,30,000 people.

In 1976 another deadly earthquake struck in

Tangshan, China, where more than 2,50,000
people were killed.
The first “ pendulum seismoscope " to
measure the shaking of the ground during an
earthquake was developed in 1751, and it
wasn't until 1855 that faults were recognized
as the source of earthquakes.

WHEN WAVES ARRIVE

Seismograph
 Mercalli (MM) Scale Categories
Modified :

I. Felt only by a very few people under especially favorable

circumstances

II. Felt only by a few people at rest, especially on the upper floors of
buildings. Suspended objects may swing.

III. Felt quite noticeably indoors. Standing motor vehicles may rock
slightly. Vibration like the passing of a truck.

IV. Felt indoors by many, outdoors by a few. At night, some awakened.

Crockery, glassware, windows, doors rattle.

V. Felt by nearly everyone; damage to contents and structures

uncommon but possible.
 VI. Felt
by all; many frightened and run outdoors;
damage slight.

VII. Everybody runs outdoors; damage negligible to

buildings seismically well-designed and constructed;
slight to moderate to ordinary structures; considerable
damage to poorly built or badly designed structures.

VIII. Damage slight in well-designed, considerable in

ordinary, and great in poorly built structures;
chimneys, monuments, walls, etc., fall.
IX. Damage considerable to well-designed structures, and great (including
partial or complete collapse) in other buildings; buildings shifted off
foundations; underground pipelines disrupted.

X. Some well-built wooden structures destroyed; most masonry and

ordinary structures destroyed; railroad tracks bent; landslides common;
water spills over banks of streams, lakes, etc.

XI. Few, if any, masonry structures remain standing; bridges are

destroyed; broad fissures open in the ground; underground pipelines are
completely out of service; earth subsides.

XII. Damage is total; waves are seen propagating along surface of the
ground; nearly impossible to stand; objects thrown up into the air.
Richter Scale
• Small: 5.0 to 5.9
• Moderate: 6.0 to 6.9
• Major: 7.0 to 7.9 ground acceleration

• Great: 8.0 or greater

 In 1935 Charles Richter
developed a method to compare
the sizes of earthquakes based
on waves recorded by
seismographs.

Modern seismologists have modified his method

and now analyze all waves recorded on a
seismograph to produce a seismic moment. The
seismic moment is then converted to moment
magnitude, which is the standard size
reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
nderstanding Magnitude

How does the amplitude of a magnitude-9 earthquake

compare to the amplitude of smaller events?

If we likened earthquakes to hills

and mountain peaks...

Each peak is
(approximately) 10
times the height of the
previous one.

Mag. 7 Mag. 9 = 10x larger than Mag.

Mag. 8 = 10x larger than Mag 7
8 = 100x larger than Mag. 7
The earliest recorded evidence of an
earthquake has been traced back to
1831 BC in China, but there is a fairly
complete record starting in 780 BC
during the Zhou Dynasty in China.
India Earthquake Prone- WHY
•India was placed on
Indo-Australian plate.
•The plate snapped.
•Indian subcontinent
started shifting
upwards.
•Stresses are
continuously developed
north of India.
•With rupture of Indo-
Eurasia plate in Bay of
 5
6
7
INDIA 8
9
Seismic Zones
Seismic Zone
Map of India:
Year-1962
Seismic Zone
Map of India:
-1966
Seismic Zone
Map of India:
-1970
 AFTER TSUNAMI
Fig: 2.1.6
 VULNERABILITY
• 1819 Gujarat [Kutch] 8.0 (2000 death
• 2001 Gujarat [Bhuj] 6.9 (13805 death
• Increased vulnerability in two centurie
You can never tell when
there will be an earthquake,
but you can reduce or avoid
damage, injuries or loss of
life by preparing yourself.
Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 at 21:43:24 UTC
Thursday, August 06, 2009 at 06:43:24 AM at
epicenter
Location : 38.844°S, 137.201°E
Depth 4.4 km (2.7 miles)
Magnitude 5.0
DISTANCE
450 km (280 miles) SSW of ADELAIDE,
South Australia, Australia
 TIME OF EARTHQUAKE IN OTHER TIME ZONES

Wednesday, August 05, 2009 at 21:43:27

(UTC) - Coordinated Universal Time

Thursday, August 06, 2009 at 06:43:27 AM

local time at epicenter

Thursday, August 06, 2009 at 03:13:27 AM

- Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta
Recent Earthquakes - Last 8-30 Days
It was recognized as early as 350 BC by the
Greek scientist Aristotle that soft ground
shakes more than hard rock in an earthquake.

Moonquakes ("earthquakes" on the moon) do

occur, but they happen less frequently and
have smaller magnitudes than earthquakes on
the Earth.
 The lunar seismometer (lower right) carried aboard Apollo 16.

The lunar seismometer (lower right) carried aboard Apollo 16.

Slip on an earthquake fault

START

Surface of the earth

Depth
Into ✭
the
earth 100 km (60 miles)
Distance along the fault plane
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 2.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 4.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 6.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 8.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 10.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 12.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 14.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 16.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 18.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 20.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 22.0
Slip on an earthquake fault
Second 24.0
The magnitude of an earthquake is a measured
value of the earthquake size.
Much of the damage in earthquakes
is predictable and preventable.

We must all work together in our

communities to apply our
knowledge to building codes,
retrofitting programs, hazard hunts,
and neighborhood and family
emergency plans.
 Alert by the animals
Three weeks ago, the water level in a
pond 350 miles from the quake's
epicentre inexplicably plunged.

Three days before disaster struck,

thousands of toads appeared on the
streets of Mianzhu city, where 2,000
have been reported dead. And hours
before, zoo animals in Wuhan began
acting bizarrely.
The earliest reference we have to unusual animal
behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from
Greece in 373 BC. Rates, weasels, snakes, and
centipedes reportedly left their homes and
headed for safety several days before a
destructive earthquake

However, consistent and reliable behavior prior

to seismic events, and a mechanism explaining
how it could work, still eludes us. Most, but not
all, scientists pursuing this mystery are in
China or Japan.
We can easily explain the cause of unusual animal
behavior seconds before humans feel an
earthquake. Very few humans notice the smaller P
wave that travels the fastest from the earthquake
source and arrives before the larger S wave. But
many animals with more keen senses are able to feel
the P wave seconds before the S wave arrives. As
for sensing an impending earthquake days or weeks
before it occurs, that's a different story
not isolated isolated

British tourists said

moments before the quake
struck the pandas they
were watching at the world
famous Wolong reserve
became agitated.
As China deals with the aftermath, online
commentators and bloggers are asking why no
heed was paid to these signs.

Some suggested officials could have predicted

the quake earlier.

However, seismologists say it is practically

impossible to predict when and where an
earthquake will strike.
 Erratic Behavior in Dogs

Researchers around the world continue to

pursue the idea, however. In September 2003 a
medical doctor in Japan made headlines with a
study that indicated erratic behavior in dogs,
such as excessive barking or biting, could be
used to forecast quakes.

In 373 B.C., historians recorded that animals,

including rats, snakes and weasels, deserted
the Greek city of Helice in droves just days
before a quake devastated the place.
Do you know what would happen before
an earthquake?
Bright lights flash in the sky
Animals are too nervous, such as
cows, pigs, horses, and snakes,
etc.
Predictions of an earthquake:
1) Bright lights flash in the sky;
2) The water in the well rise and fall;
3) The well walls have deep cracks with
smelly gas;
4) Animals are too nervous, such as
cows, pigs, horses, and snakes, etc;
5) Mice run out to look for places to hide;
6) Fish jump out of the ponds.
• The idea that animals can
sense tremors in advance is as
old as the ancient Greeks of
373 B.C. and as new as the
Asian tsunami of 2004.
Frogs Predict Big Earthquake in China
 The Imminent earthquake prediction
Public
1975Haicheng Notice
There might
Earthquake
be an
earthquake
Thefirst very soon,
the film will
successful be shown in
the open air
imminent instead of in
the cinema.
earthquake Xinhua Cinema

predictionin

humanhistory
 1975: Liaoning Province,
China
• First major earthquake to be predicted
• Saved thousands of lives
• Chinese officials ordered the evacuation of about
1 million people days before the earthquake
• Reasons:
·Changes in land elevation and ground water levels
for a few months
·Widespread accounts of peculiar animal behavior
·Regional increase in seismic activity
 Living with Disasters…

Are we living in a more dangerous world than

our grandparents lived?
 Living with Disasters…

Or is it becoming a safer place?

Conclusion:

"A chain is as strong as its

weakest link”
Let’s make a safer world
References

1. www.usgs.gov* for information of the tsunami

www.iris.edu*

2. www.bbc.com, www.cnn.com for animation and photos

serc.carleton.edu, www.kyoto-u.ac.jp

3. www.digitalglobe.com for satellite photos

4. www.asiantsunamivideos.com for videos of tsunami disaster

* : U.S. Geological Survey

* : Incorporated Research Institution for Seismology