EQN-531 - Unit 1 - Introduction
EQN-531 - Unit 1 - Introduction
EQN-531 - Unit 1 - Introduction
Seismology: The study of earthquakes, the structure of the earth, propagation of seismic
waves and their recording. Greek words: Seismos-earthquakes; logos-Science
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1.2. INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the outer layer of the earth known as Lithosphere is
broken in to different part. These are known as plates.
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1.3. CLASSIFICATION OF EARTHQUAKES
1. Primary Effects:
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The displacements, lengths, and widths of surface fault ruptures show a wide range. Fault
displacements may have range from a fraction of an inch to more than 20 feet of differential
movement. As expected, the severity of potential damage increases as the size of the
displacement increases. The lengths of the surface fault ruptures on land have ranged from
less than 1 mile to more than 200 miles. Most fault displacement is confined to a narrow
zone ranging from 6 to 1,000 feet in width, but separate subsidiary fault ruptures may occur
2 to 3 miles from the main fault. The area subject to disruption by surface faulting varies
with the length and width of the rupture zone.
b. Tectonic deformations: Uplift and subsidence of landmass occurs due to the great
earthquake. This may cause flooding, change of river direction and associated flooding
and life loss. Change in water level in wells and springs may also occur.
2. Secondary effects:
Damage to structures-cracks, partial to complete collapse
Fires caused by breaking of gas pipe lines
Damage to water pipelines
Seiche: A free oscillation of the
Ground cracks in loose soil deposit
surface of an enclosed body of water
Sound such as lake, pond etc. The period of
Landslides- oscillations range from few minutes
Liquefaction-sand boils; sand craters to few hours and oscillations may
Seiches persist for several hours to 1-2 days.
Sea quakes
Panic, fright, dizziness, etc
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1.6. FAULTS PARAMETERS
A fracture along which the blocks of crust on either
side have moved relative to one another parallel to
the fracture.
Fault Plane. A plane on which there is relative
displacement between the two rock masses.
Strike. Trend or bearing, relative to north, of the line
defined by the intersection of a planar geologic
surface (for example, a fault or a bed) and a
horizontal surface such as the ground.
Hanging wall & Foot wall. The hanging wall lies
above the fault plane and foot wall lies below.
Dip. Is the angle between the fault plane and the
horizontal measured perpendicular to the strike.
Slip/rake. Measured in the plane of fault from the
strike direction to the slip vector showing the motion of the hanging wall relative to the foot wall.
Fault Types
a. Strike-slip faults are vertical (or
nearly vertical) fractures where
the blocks have mostly moved
horizontally.
Right-lateral. If you were to
stand on the fault and look
along its length, this is a type
of strike-slip fault where the
right block moves toward you
and the left block moves away.
Left-lateral. If you were to
stand on the fault and look
along its length, this is a type
of strike-slip fault where the
left block moves toward you
and the right block moves
away.
Transform fault. A special
variety of strike-slip fault that
accommodates relative
horizontal slip between other
tectonic elements, such as
oceanic crustal plates. Often
extend from oceanic ridges.
b. Dip-slip faults are inclined fractures where the blocks have mostly shifted vertically.
If the rock mass above an inclined fault moves down, the fault is termed normal
Whereas if the rock above the fault moves up, the fault is termed reverse (or thrust
dip<450).
c. Oblique-slip faults have significant components of both slip styles.
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1.7. CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKES
An Earthquake is a sudden tremor or movement of the earth's crust, which originates naturally
at or below the surface. The word natural is important here, since it excludes shock waves
caused by nuclear tests, man made explosions, etc. About 90% of all earthquakes result from
tectonic events, primarily movements on the faults. The remaining is rela ted to volcanism,
collapse of subterranean cavities or man-made effects. Tectonic earthquakes are triggered
when the accumulated strain exceeds shearing strength of rocks. Elastic rebound theory gives
physics behind earthquake genesis.
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the elastic rebound. The accumulated energy in the
strained volume of rock is suddenly released in the form
of seismic waves and a part is converted into heat or
other forms.
a. Underground structures
The underground structures have been found to be less vulnerable to damage from
earthquakes than those on the surface. Usually, seismic design loads for underground
structures are characterized in terms of deformations and strain imposed by the surrounding
ground but, as with surface structures, inertial forces caused by ground accelerations are also
considered in their design. Hence, estimates of the ground motions to be expected at depths
are required. At present, however, there is little information available on which to base these
estimates. Ground motions at depths are likely to be considerably different to those at the
surface due to these factors:
The effect of the free surface, in theory, means that the motion at depth is two times lower
than that at the surface.
Rock at the surface is, in general, softer (lower wave-velocities), than those at depth
therefore the motion at the surface will have been amplified with respect to the motion at
depth.
The attenuation of high frequencies is less at depth than at the surface.
Interference between the ascending and descending waves and diffraction phenomena can
also diminish the motions at depth.
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ii. Effect of Deformations in Structures: The inertia force experienced by the roof is transferred
to the ground via the columns, causing forces in columns. These forces generated in the
columns can also be understood in another way. During earthquake shaking, the columns
undergo relative movement between their ends. This movement is shown as quantity ‘u’
between the roof and the ground. But, given a free option, columns would like to come back to
the straight vertical position, i.e., columns resist deformations. In the straight vertical position,
the columns carry no horizontal earthquake force through them. But, when forced to bend, they
develop internal forces. The larger is the relative horizontal displacement ‘u’ between the top
and bottom of the column, the larger this internal force in columns. Also, the stiffer the columns
are (i.e., bigger is the column size), larger is this force. For this reason, these internal forces in
the columns are called stiffness forces. In fact, the stiffness force in a column is the column
stiffness times the relative displacement between its ends.
Walls or columns are the most critical elements in transferring the inertia forces. But, in
traditional construction, floor slabs and beams receive more care and attention during design
and construction, than walls and columns. Walls are relatively thin and often made of brittle
material like masonry. They are poor in carrying horizontal earthquake inertia forces along the
direction of their thickness. Failures of masonry walls have been observed in many
earthquakes in the past. Similarly, poorly designed and constructed reinforced concrete
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columns can be disastrous. The failure of the ground storey columns resulted in numerous
building collapses during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake. A typical RC building is made of horizontal
members (beams and slabs) and vertical members (columns and walls), and supported by
foundations that rest on ground. The system comprising of RC columns and connecting beams
is called a RC Frame. Earthquake shaking generates inertia forces in the building. Since most
of the building mass is present at floor levels, earthquake-induced inertia forces primarily
develop at the floor levels. These forces travel downwards - through slab and beams to
columns and walls, and then to the foundations from where they are dispersed t o the ground.
As inertia forces accumulate downwards from the top of the building, the columns and walls at
lower storeys experience higher earthquake-induced forces and are therefore designed to be
stronger than those in storeys above.
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2. PLATE TECTONICS
Answer to
these
questions
comes from
the theory of
plate
tectonics.
Theory of
plate
tectonics was
proposed in
1965 by A.
Holmes.
Before theory
of plate
tectonis,
contracting Fig. 1 Geographical distribution of epicentres of 30,000 earthquakes
earth hypotheis occurred during 1961-1967 illustrates the tectonically active regions
was proposed of the earth (After: Barazangi and Dorman, 1969).
to explain the
existance of mountains and oceans. These feature were considered to be the permant feature
of the earth. As we know, according to the Nebular Hypothesis of Origin of solar system, in
early days earth was in a hot gassies form. The continuous cooling of the earth has brougth
the earth in the present form. Outer layer (crust) first came into solid form due to cooling,
Further, cooling caused the decrease of volume of material below the crustal mass. So,
according to the Contracting Earth Hypothesis, the mountain ranges were thought to have
formed on its shrinking surface like wrinkles on a desiccating apple. Horizontal tectonic
displacements were known, but were considered to be a by-product of more important vertical
motions. The realization that large overthrusts played an important role in the formation of
mountains implied amounts of horizontal shortening that were difficult to accommodate in the
contraction hypothesis. A new school of thought emerged in which mountain -building was
depicted as a consequence of horizontal displacements. The continental drift hypothesis and
Isostasy was proposed to explain the existance of mountains and oceans on the globe.
Wegener’s Continental drift theory was hotly debated off and on for decades following
Wegener's death (1930) before it was largely dismissed as being eccentric, preposterous, and
improbable. However, beginning in the 1950s, a wealth of new evidence emerged to revive the
debate about Wegener's provocative ideas and their implications. Although much of this
supporting evidence for continental drift was known and available for many years, the concept
received little acceptance and in fact open decision, until researchers began to formulate
explanations for the mechanisms of movement. Pieces of information from many sources were
assembled over time to develop a uniform concept. An understanding of the importance of
convection currents in the mantle goes back to the Dutch researcher Felix Menesz in 1930,
long before any kind of acceptance of that idea. Harry Hess’ work, History of Ocean Basins,
described sea-floor spreading in 1960. In 1968, Bryan Isacks et al. plotted the occurrences of
shallow and deep focus earthquakes along the plate edges.
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2.1 CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
Supporting Evidences
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2.2 THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS
In particular, four major scientific developments spurred the formulation of the plate -tectonics
theory:
a. Demonstration of the ruggedness in the form of oceanic ridges, island arcs, trenches
and youthness of the ocean floor.
b. Confirmation of repeated reversals of the earth magnetic field in the geologic past and
development of paleomagnetism.
c. Emergence of the seafloor-spreading hypothesis and associated recycling of oceanic
crust. The sea floor spreading at the oceanic ridges was first recognized by H. Hess in
1962. He suggested that new oceanic crust is generated from upwelling hot mantle
material at the ridges.
d. Precise documentation that the world's earthquake and volcanic activity is concentrated
along oceanic trenches and submarine mountain ranges. A global map of seismicity
(Fig. 1) revealed most of the actively deforming regions of the world.
Fifty years after Wegener first proposed his theory of continental drift the science of plate
tectonics finally came to the rescue of his intellectual honor and his life’s work was vindicated.
According to the plate tectonics model, the uppermost mantle, along with the overlying crust,
behaves as a strong, rigid layer, known as the lithosphere. This outermost shell overlies a
weaker region in the mantle known as the asthenosphere. Further, the lithosphere is broken
into numerous segments called plates, which are in motion and are continually changing in
shape and size. The implications of plate tectonics are so far -reaching that this theory is today
the framework within which to view most geologic processes.
Fig.2 The major and monir lithospheric plates. The arrows indicate relative velocities in
mm/year at different types of active plate margins. (After: DeMets et al., 1990).
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LITHOSPHERIC PLATES
The radially layered model of the Earth's interior assumes spherical symmetry. This is not
valid for the crust and upper mantle. These outer layers of the Earth show important lateral
variations. The crust and uppermost mantle down to a depth of about 70 -100 km under deep
ocean basins and 100-150 km under continents is rigid, forming a hard outer shell called the
lithosphere. Beneath the lithosphere lies the asthenosphere, a layer in which seismic velocities
often decrease, suggesting lower rigidity. It is about 150 km thick, although its upper and lower
boundaries are not sharply defined. This weaker layer is thought to be partially molten; it may
be able to flow over long periods of time like a viscous liquid or plastic solid, in a way that
depends on temperature and composition. The asthenosphere plays an important role in plate
tectonics, because it makes possible the relative motion of the overlying lithospheric plates.
The brittle condition of the lithosphere causes it to fracture when strongly stressed. The rupture
produces an earthquake, which is the violent release of elastic energy due to sudden
displacement on a fault plane. Earthquakes are not distributed evenly over the surface of the
globe, but occur predominantly in well-defined narrow seismic zones that are often associated
with volcanic activity. These are: (a) the circum-Pacific ‘ring of fire’; (b) a sinuous belt running
from the azores through north Africa and the Alpine-Dinaride-Himalayan mountains chain as
far as SE Asia; and (c) the world-circling system of oceanic ridges and rise. The seismic zones
subdivide the lithosphere laterally into tectonic plates.
A plate may be as broad as 10,000 km (e.g., the Pacific plate) or as small as a few thou sand
km (e.g., the Philippines plate). There are ten major plates (Antarctica, Africa, Eurasia,
India, Australia, Arabia, North America, South America, Pacific, Nazca) and several minor
plates (e.g., Philippines, Cocos, Scotia, Caribbean, Juan de Fuca).
The positions of the boundaries between the North American and South American plates and
between the North American and Eurasian plates are uncertain. The boundary between the
Indian and Australian plates is not sharply defined, but may be broad region of diffused
deformation.
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2.4 PLATE MARGINS AND SEISMICITY OF THE EARTH
It is important to keep in mind that the tectonic plates are not the crustal unit. They evolve the
entire thickness of the lithosphere, of which the crust is only the outer skin. The oceanic crust
is thin close to the ridge axis, but thickens with distance from the ridge, reaching a value of 80-
100km; the oceanic crust makes up only the top 5-10km. Continental lithosphere may be up
to 150km thick of which only the top 30-60km is continental crust. Driven by mechanisms that
are not completely understood, the lithospheric plates move relative to each other across the
surface of the globe. There are three types of plate margins:
a. Divergent boundaries
Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centers where plates are
moving apart and new crust is created by magma pushing up from the
mantle. The place where new crust is formed in ocean due to the
divergence of plates is known as mid oceanic ridges. The vast majority
of these boundaries are located in the oceans, however it is evident that
these boundaries also exist in in continental regions. These areas of contin ental diverging
boundaries are known as rift zones. A good example is the East African rift valley. Places
where mid oceanic ridges have been identified are: Atlantic, India , Antarctica, South Pacific
oceans, Norwegian sea, Arctic basin.
b. Convergent boundaries:
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The size of the Earth has not changed significantly during the past 600 million years, and very
likely not since shortly after its formation 4.6 billion years ago. The
Earth's unchanging size implies that the crust must be
destroyed at about the same rate as it is being
created, as Harry Hess surmised. Such
destruction (recycling) of crust takes place
along convergent boundaries where plates
are moving toward each other, and
sometimes one plate sinks (is subducted)
under another. The location where sinking
of a plate occurs is called a subduction
zone. Convergence can occur between an
oceanic and a largely continental plate, or
between two largely oceanic plates, or Schematic of oceanic-continental
between two largely continental plates. At
the subduction zone all short of earthquake can occur. For example, magnitude range may be
-3.0 to 9.5; depth range may be 3-670 km and focal machanism may be both trust and normal
faulting.
i. Oceanic-continental convergence: The deepest parts of the ocean are found in arc-
shaped depressions in the ocean floor known as trenches. If by magic we could pull a plug and
drain the Pacific Ocean, we would see a most amazing sight -- a number of long narrow,
curving trenches thousands of kilometers long and 8 to 10 km deep cutting into the ocean floor.
Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean floor and are created by subduction. The arc
shape results from the geometry of plate movement across the spherical earth, and the convex
side of the arc points toward the open ocean. These trenches, because of the tectonic and
volcanic behavior associated with them, are often accompanied by arc-shaped bands of
islands. Off the coast of South America along the Peru-Chile trench, the oceanic Nazca Plate
is pushing into and being subducted under the continental part of the South American Plate.
In turn, the overriding South American Plate is being lifted up, creating the towering Andes
mountains, the backbone of the continent. Strong, destructive earthquakes and the rapid uplift
of mountain ranges are common in this region. Even though the Nazca Plate as a whole is
sinking smoothly and continuously into the trench, the deepest part of the subducting plate
breaks into smaller pieces that become locked in place for long periods of time before suddenly
moving to generate large earthquakes. Such earthquakes are often accompanied by uplift of
the land by as much as a few meters.
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which closely parallel the trenches, are generally curved. Magmas that form island arcs are
produced by the partial melting of the descending plate and/or the overlying oceanic
lithosphere. The descending plate also provides a source of stress as the two plates interact,
leading to frequent moderate to strong earthquakes.
iv. The seismicity at a subduction zone: The seismicity at a subduction zone provides the
key to the processes active there. Where one plate is thrust over the other, the shear causes
hazardous earthquakes at shallow depths. Below this region, earthquakes are systematically
distributed within the subducting plate. They form an enclined Wadati-Benioff zone, which may
extend several hundred kilometers in to the mantle.
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zone. When the earthquake foci along a subduction zone are projected onto a cross -section
normal to the strike of the plate margin, they are seen to define a zone of seismicity about 30-
40 km thick in the upper part of the 80-100 km thick subducting oceanic plate. The dip-angle
of the zone varies between about 30' and 60', becoming steeper with increasing depth. It can
extent to depth of several hundred kilometers into the earth. The deepest reliable located focal
depth extent down to about 670km. Important changes in the crystalline structure of mantle
minerals occur below this depth. Studies of the focal mechanisms show that at shallow depths
the downgoing plate is in a state of down-dip extension. Subducting lithosphere is colder and
denser than the underlying asthenosphere. This gives it negative buoyancy, which causes it
to sink, pulling the plate downward. At greater depths the mantle is more rigid than the
asthenosphere, and its strength resists penetration. While the upper part is sinking, the bottom
part is being partly supported by the deeper layers; this results in down -dip compression in the
lower part of the descending slab and down-dip extension in the upper part. A gap in the depth
distribution of seismicity may arise where the deviatoric stress changes from extensional to
compressional. In a very deep subduction zone the increase of resistance with depth causes
down-dip compression throughout the descending slab.
c. Transform boundaries
The zone between two plates sliding horizontally past one another is
called a transform-fault boundary, or simply a transform boundary.
The concept of transform faults originated with Canadian
geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson, who proposed that these large faults or
fracture zones connect two spreading centers (divergent plate
boundaries) or, less commonly, trenches (convergent plate boundaries). Most transform faults
are found on the ocean floor. They commonly offset the active spreading ridges, producing
zig-zag plate margins, and are generally defined by shallow earthquakes. However, a few
occur on land, for example the San Andreas fault zone in California. The San Andreas fault
zone, which is about 1,300 km long. Along it, the Pacific Plate has been grinding horizontally
past the North American Plate for 10 million years, at an average rate of about 5 cm/yr. Other,
transform boundaries are San Andreas Fault, Anatolian Fault near Turky, St. Paul Fault and
Alpine fault in New Zealands.
Along the transform boundaries, the earthquakes occur at shallow depth, unaccompanied by
volcanic activity. The nature of slip is always srike-slip and magnitude up to 8.0 is reported on
the transform boundaries. The friction between the plates can be so great that very large strain
can built up before they are periodically relieved by large earthquakes. Neverthless, activity
does not always occur along the entire length of the fault during any one earthquake. For
instance, the 1906 San Francisco event was caaused by breakage only along the northern end
of the San Andreas Fault. 1994-North ridge earthquake, 1989-Lomaprita earthquake.
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2.5 THE MOVEMENT OF INDIAN PLATE:
After the collison both the Indian and Euracian plates are moving towards north. This was
verified on the basis of various evidences, one of them is the plant & animal fossils found fifty
kilometers north of Lhasa (the capital of Tibet). Scientists found layers of pink sandstone
containing grains of magnetic minerals (magnetite) that have recorded the pattern of the
Earth's flip-flopping magnetic field. These sandstones also contain plant and animal fossils that
were deposited when the Tethys Sea periodically flooded the region. The study of these fossils
has revealed not only their geologic age but also the type of environment and climate in which
they formed. For example, such studies indicate that the fossils lived under a relatively mild,
wet environment about 105 million years ago, when Tibet was closer to the equator. Today,
Tibet's climate is much more arid, reflecting the region's uplift and northward shift of nearly
2,000 km. Fossils found in the sandstone layers offer dramatic evidence of the climate change
in the Tibetan region due to plate movement over the past 100 million years.
The epicenters of about 30,000 earthquakes are now reported annually by the International
Seismological Center (ISC). A global map of seismicity reveals most of the actively deforming
regions of the earth. The seismicity map is important evidence in support of the plate tectonic
theory, and delineates the presently active plate margins. The major plate boundaries and the
diffuse bands of seismicity associated with the distributed deformation zones such as the
Alpine-Himalayan belt and the Great Basin in the western United States can be traced out
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easily. The existence of seismicity thus can be used to deduce the tectonic activity of a region,
particularly in submarine regions and other areas that are otherwise inaccessible.
Earthquake epicenters are not uniformly distributed over the earth surface, but occur
predominantly along narrow zones of interplate seismic activity. The circum-pacific zone, in
which 75-80% of the annual release of seismic energy takes place, forms a girdle that
encompasses the mountain range on the west of the Americans and the island arcs along the
east coast of Asia and Australia.
The Mediterranean-trans-asiatic zone, responsible for about 15-20% of the annual energy
release, begins at the Azores triple juction in the Atlantic Ocean and extends along the Azores-
Gibraltar ridge, after passing through North Africa it makes a loop through the Italian peninsula,
the Alps and the Dinarides; it then runs through turkey, Iran, The Himalayan mountain chain
and the island arcs of the Southeast Asia, where it terminates at the circum-pacific zone.
The system of oceanic ridges and rises form the third most active zone of seismicity, with about
3-7% of the annually released seismic energy. In addition to their seismicity, each of these
zones is also characterized by active volcanism.
The remainder of the Earth is considered to be aseismic. However, no region of the Earth can
be regarded as completely earthquake-free. About 1% of the global seismicity is due to
intraplate earthquakes, which occur remote from the major seismic zones. These are not
necessarily insignificant: some very large and damaging earthquakes (e.g. the Koyna, 1967;
Latur, 1993 and Jabalpur, 1997 earthquakes of India) have been of the intraplate variety.
Earthquakes can also be classified according to their focal depths. Earthquakes with shallow
focal depths less than 70 km occur in all the seismically active zones; only shallow earthquakes
occur on the oceanic ridge systems. The largest proportion (about 85%) of the annual release
of seismic energy is liberated in shallow-focus earthquakes. The remainder is set free by
earthquakes with intermediate focal depths of 70-300 km (about 12%) and by earthquakes
with deep focal depths greater than 300 km (about 3%). These occur only in the circum-Pacific
and Mediterranean-transasiatic seismic zones, and accompany the process of plate
subduction. Further, about 85% of the moment release occurs at subduction zones.
Volcanic earthquakes also produce insignificant amounts of moment relea se. In the
examination of the seismotectonics of any region, one needs to keep an awareness of the
relative moment released in different earthquakes and of that with respect to the moment
release expected from the total deformation of the region. The commo n use of magnitude often
obscures these differences because it is a logarithmic measure of moment and because,
unless moment magnitude is used, it saturates for the earthquakes that contribute the most to
the moment release.
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2.7. INTRAPLATE EARTHQUAKES IN INDIA
Although the vast majority of seismic moment release occurs at plate bound aries, some
regions of seismicity are far removed from plate boundaries. This seismicity is referred to as
intraplate, and it represents internal deformation of a plate. About 1% of the global seismicity
is due to intraplate earthquakes, which occur remote from the major seismic zones. These
are not necessarily insignificant: some very large and damaging earthquakes (e.g. the Koyna,
1967; Latur, 1993 and Jabalpur, 1997 earthquakes of India) have been of the intraplate variety.
The nature of intraplate seismicity is often quite complicated, and the tectonic driving
mechanisms are poorly understood. Intraplate and interplate earthquakes differ in two
important ways.
a. The recurrence interval of intraplate events is generally much longer than that of
interplate events.
b. Intraplate events typically have much higher stress drops.
These two observations may be coupled; since intraplate faults fail infrequently, they appear
to be "stronger" than interplate faults. There are several possible explana tions for this. Faults
that move frequently with a high slip rate will produce a well defined gouge zone, which
weakens the fault. Further, interseismic healing, involving chemical processes that
progressively weld a fault, will be more effective for faults with long recurrence times.
Intraplate seismicity is difficult to characterize seismically because the recurrence times are
long and we have few examples of repeat events. Often, earthquakes occur on old zones of
crustal weakness such as sutures or rifts that are reactivated by the present stress field. The
faults that produce intraplate earthquakes are not easily recognized at the surface. This is
because the faulting is usually several kilometers deep, and little cumulative offset occurs
because of the long recurrence intervals.
Some intraplate earthquakes are induced; this means that human activity triggers the
earthquakes. The example of reservoir induced seismicity is the seismicity associated with the
Koyna dam in the Deccan traps of western India. The impounding of water began at Koyna in
1962, in an area that appears to have been aseismic for at least the previous hundred years.
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In early 1964, earthquakes began to occur under the lake at shallow depths. In 1967,
earthquakes with M = 5.5 and 6.5 occurred, the largest event causing 117 casu alties. Since
that time, the seismicity level has decreased, although a peak in seismicity appears to occur 1
to 2 months after the rainy season when the reservoir is at its highest level. What causes
reservoirs to generate earthquakes? It is unlikely that the cause is simply the weight of the
water, which would only add a tiny fraction of the total stress 2 or 3 km below the surface. A
more likely explanation is that the pore pressure increases because of the hydrostatic head of
the reservoir.
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2.8. SEISM OTECTONICS OF INDIA
Earthquakes have been occurring in the Indian subcontinent from the times immemorial but
reliable historical records are available for the last 200 years ( Oldham, 1883 ). From the
beginning of this century; more than 700 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more have been
recorded and felt in India until 2002 as given in the catalogues prepared by US National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/USGS, India Meteorological
Department (IMD), National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). Out of this, Peninsular
India has experienced only about 100 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more. Seismotectonics
of India can be divided in to four zones. Himalayan Zone: MFT, MBT, MCT & ISZ; Andaman
Nicobar thrust best; Kutch region and Intra-continental tectonic activity.
iii. Kutch region: The faults in Peninsular India are small and so only moderate earthquakes
have occurred except in Kutch region. The source of stress responsible for tectonic activity in the
Kutch region is not well defined.
Kutch region earthquakes
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SN Name of earthquake Location year Mag./Max. Casuality
intensity
1. Samaji Earthquake Samaji, Delta of Indus 1668 X
2. Kutch Earthquake Kutch , Gujarat 1819 8.0 2,000
3. Anjar Earthquake Anjar, Gujrat 1956 6.1 115
4. Bhuj Earthquake Bachau, Gujarat 2001 6.9 20,000
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3: EARTHQUAKE SIZE
3.1 EARTHQUAKE INTENSITY
Large earthquakes produce alterations to the Earth's natural surface features, or severe damage
to man-made structures such as buildings, bridges and dams. Even small earthquakes can result
in disproportionate damage to these edifices when inferior constructional methods or materials
have been utilized. Intensity is a way of measuring or rating the effects of an earthquake at
different sites. The intensity of an earthquake at a particular place is classified on the basis of
the local character of the visible effects it produces. It depends very much on the acuity of the
observer, and is in principle subjective. Intensity estimates have proved to be a viable method
of assessing earthquake size, including historical earthquakes.
The rating of Intensity of the effects an earthquake does not require any instrumental
measurements. In order to evaluate the intensity of site (1) questionnaires may be distributed to
the population, asking for observations; (2) personal feeling that can be used to estimate the
intensity. The questionnaires are evaluated with the aid of an intensity scale and the intensity
assigned at the location of each observer is plotted on the map.
The first attempt to grade earthquake severity was made in the late 18th century by Domenico
Pignataro, an Italian physician, who classified more than 1000 earthquakes that devastated the
southern Italian province of Calabria in the years 1783-1786. His crude analysis classified the
earthquakes according to whether they were very strong, strong, moderate or slight. In the mid
19th century an Irish engineer, Robert Mallet, produced a list of 6831 earthquakes and plotted
their estimated locations, producing the first map of the world's seismicity and establishing that
earthquakes occurred in distinct zones. He also used a four-stage intensity scale to grade
earthquake damage, and constructed the first isoseismal maps with lines that outlined areas with
broadly equal grades of damage.
The Rossi-Forel intensity scale, developed in 1883 by the Italian scientist M. S. de Rossi and
the Swiss scientist F. Forel, incorporated ten stages describing effects of increasing damage. In
1902 an Italian seismologist, G. Mercalli, proposed a still more extensive, expanded intensity
scale which reclassified earthquake severity in twelve stages. A variation, the Modified Mercalli
(MM) scale, was developed in 1931 to suit building conditions in the United States, where a
later modification is in common use. The Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik (MSK) scale,
introduced in Europe in 1964, also has twelve stages and differs from the MMI scale mainly in
details. Modified in 1981, it has proved useful for over 30 years. A new European
Macroseismic Scale (EMS) was proposed in 1992. The new 12-stage EMS-scale is based on
the MSK scale but takes into account the vulnerability of buildings to earthquake damage and
incorporates more rigorous evaluation of the degree of damage to structures with different
building standards.
The Mevedev-Sponheuer-Karnik (MSK) and Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scales are
commonly used to seek information on the severity of effects of an earthquake. Intensity ratings
are expressed as Roman numerals. The Intensity Scale differs from the Richter Magnitude Scale
in that the effects of any one earthquake vary greatly from place to place, so there may be many
Intensity values (e.g.: IV, VII) measured from one earthquake. Each earthquake, on the other
hand, should have just one Magnitude.
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MSK Intensity Scale (Mevedev-Sponheuer-Karnik, 1964):
The main features of MSK intensity scale are as follows:
b) Definition of Quantity:
Quantity Percentage
Single, few About 5 %
Many About 50 %
Most About 75 %
Intensity Descriptions
I Not The intensity of the vibration is below the limit of
noticeable sensibility; the tremor is detected and recorded by
seismographs only.
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III Weak, The earthquake is felt indoors by a few people, outdoors only
partially in favourable circumstances. The vibration is like that due to the
observed passing of a light truck. Attentive observers notice a slight
only swinging of hanging objects, somewhat more heavily on upper
floors
IV Largely The earthquake is felt indoors by many people, outdoors
observed by few. Here and there people awake, but no one is
frightened. The vibration is like that due to the passing of a
heavily loaded truck. Windows, doors and dishes rattle.
Furniture begins to shake. Hanging objects swing slightly.
Liquids in open Vessels are slightly disturbed. In standing
motor cars the shock is noticeable.
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VIII Destruction a)Fright and panic; also persons driving motor-cars are
of buildings disturbed. Here and there branches of trees break off. Even
heavy furniture moves and partly overturns. Hanging lamps
are damaged in part
b) Most buildings of Type C suffer damage of Grade 2, and few
of Grade 3. Most buildings of Type B suffer damage of Grade
3, and most buildings of Type A suffer damage of Grade 4.
Occasional breaking of pipe seams. Memorials and
monuments move and twist. Tombstones overturn. Stone-
walls collapse .
c) Small landslips in hollows and on banked roads on steep
slopes; cracks in ground up to widths of several cm. Water in
lakes becomes turbid. New reservoirs come into existence.
Dry wells refill and existing wells becomes dry. In many
cases change in flow and level of water is observed.
IX General a) General panic; considerable damage to furniture. Animals
damage to run to and fro in confusion and cry.
buildings b) Many buildings of Type C suffer damage of Grade 3, and a
few of Grade 4. Many buildings of Type B show damage of
Grade 4, and a few of Grade 5. Many buildings of Type A
suffer damage of Grade 5. Monuments and columns fall.
Considerable damage to reservoirs; underground pipes
partly broken. In individual cases railway lines are bent and
roadway damaged
c) On flat land overflow of water, sand and mud is often
observed. Ground cracks to widths of up to 10 cm, on slopes
and river banks more than 10 cm; furthermore a large
number of slight cracks in ground; falls of rock, many
landslides and earth flows; large waves in water. Dry wells
renew-their flow and existing wells dry up
X General b)Many buildings of Type C suffer damage of Grade 4, and a
destruction few of Grade 5. Many buildings of Type B show damage of
of buildings Grade 5; most of Type A have destruction of Grade 5; critical
damage to dams and dykes and severe damage to bridges.
Railway lines are bent slightly. Underground pipes are
broken or bent. Road paving and asphalt show waves.
c) In ground, cracks up to widths of several cm, sometimes up
to 1 m. Parallel to water course occur broad fissures. Loose
ground slides from steep slopes. From river-bank and steep
coasts, considerable landslides are possible. In coastal areas,
displacement of sand and mud; change of water level in wells;
water from canals, lakes, rivers, etc, thrown on land. New
lakes occur.
XI b)Severe damage even to well built buildings, bridges, water
Destruction dams and railway lines; highways become useless;
underground pipes destroyed.
c) Ground considerably distorted by broad cracks and fissures,
as well as by movement in horizontal and vertical directions;
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numerous landslips and falls of rock. The intensity of the
earthquake requires to be investigated specially.
XII Landscape b) Practically all structures above and below ground are greatly
changes damaged or destroyed.
c) The surface of the ground is radically changed. Considerable
ground cracks with extensive vertical and horizontal
movements are observed. Falls of rock and slumping of river-
banks over wide areas, lakes are dammed; waterfalls appear,
and rivers are deflected. The intensity of the earthquake
requires to be investigated specially.
A unique type of map is often constructed to show the areal variation of intensity for a single
earthquake. The procedure involves plotting the intensity values to their respective location on
a base map and then connecting equal or a certain range of inte nsity values by a line. These
lines by general definition are termed isolines or isopleths (lines connecting points of some
equal value). Because the lines in this particular example are connecting points of equal
earthquake intensity, they are called isoseismals and the map is called an isoseismal map.
The areas enclosed by the isoseismals are, therefore, characterized by a range of intensity
different from that of other areas.
The contours shown in figure represent equal strength of shaking during Bhuj earthquake of
January 26, 2001. The numbers (ranging from V to X) are intensity values and should not be
confused with earthquake magnitude. The intensity is usually strongest near the earthquake
epicenter and decreases with distance until eventually, at some point far away, the earthquake
is no longer felt by anyone. Other factors such as the local geology beneath a particular site,
the regional geology and the orientation of the earthquake fault can all affect intensities. The
numbers on the map represent relative shaking strength and can by qualitatively interpreted.
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Fig. 1 Isoseismal map for Bhuj earthquake of January 26, 2001.
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3.3 EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE SCALES
In 1931 a Japanese seismologist named Kiyoo Wadati constructed a chart of maximum ground
motion versus distance for a number of earthquakes and noted that the plots for different
earthquakes formed parallel, curved lines (the larger earthquakes produced la rger amplitudes).
The fact that earthquakes of different size generated curves that were roughly parallel
suggested that a single number could quantify the relative size of different earthquakes.
One of Dr. Charles F. Richter's most valuable contributions was to recognize that the seismic
waves radiated by all earthquakes can provide good estimates of their magnitudes. In 1935
Charles Richter constructed a similar diagram of peak ground motion versus distance and used
it to create the first earthquake magnitude scale (a logarithmic relationship between
earthquake size and observed peak ground motion). He collected the recordings of seismic
waves from a large number of earthquakes, and developed a calibrated system of measuring
them for magnitude. Richter showed that, the larger the intrinsic energy of the earthquake, the
larger the amplitude of ground motion at a given distance.
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The idea of a logarithmic earthquake magnitude scale struck into the mind of Richter after
analysing the roughly parallel curves generated by different size earthquakes on the plot of log
of the recorded amplitude at various epicentral distances. The logarithm of recorded amplitude
was used due to enormous variability in amplitude. The parallel nature of curves for different
earthquakes suggested that a single number could quantify the relative size of different
earthquakes. He proposed zero magnitude for an earthquake that would produce a record with
amplitude of 1.0 m at a distance of 100 km from the epicentre on Wood-Anderson (WA)
seismograph with 1.25 Hz natural frequency and 2800 magnification factor. Thus zero
magnitude amplitude (A0) at 100km epicentral distance is 1.0 m. In another way, Richter
magnitude ML at 100 km epicentral distance can be written as
Means ML is zero when A0=1.0 m. Thus, an earthquake trace with amplitude 10m on WA-
seismograph at an epicentral distance of 100 km has magnitude 1.0. But, the actual ground
displacement at 100 km epicentral distance for magnitude 1.0 is only 0.00356m (10m/2800).
He calibrated his scale of magnitudes using measured maximum amplitudes of shear waves
recorded in southern California. The logarithmic form of Richter magnitude scale (M L) for any
epicentral distance is as given below.
Where A0 is the zero magnitude amplitude for different epicental distances. How could a
magnitude be less than zero? Remember the equation 2. Equation 2 can also be written as
1
M L log10 A( m) log10
A0 m
The zero magnitude amplitude can be computed for different epicentral distances taking into
account the effects of geometrical spreading and absorption of considered wave. The Richter
Magnitude equation used in Southern California for different epicentral distances and
amplitude measured in ‘mm’ , and 18 km fixed focal depth is as follows.
The distance correction factors given in table 1 cannot be used in other regions of the world
since considered focal depth was constant. So, to compute M L in any region like Himalayas,
first zero magnitude amplitude should be determined according to the original definition of ML
at 100 km and different focal depth taking into account the geometrical spreading and
appropriate measure of absorption and then distance correction factors for different epicentral
distances should be computed.
Since, nowadays, sufficient time resolution of high frequency r ecords is no longer a problem,
therefore frequency dependent distance correction factors matched with Richter scale at 100
km distance have been developed based on epicentral as well as hypo -central distances
(Hutton and Boore, 1987, 97; Kim, 1998 and Langston et al., 1998).
These include body-wave magnitude (mB) and surface-wave magnitude (MS). Each is valid for
a particular period range and type of seismic wave. In its range of validity each is equivalent
to the Richter magnitude. Magnitude should be a measure of seismic energy released and
thus be proportional to the velocity of ground motion, i.e. to A/T with T as the period of the
considered wave. So, the general form of Richter magnitude scale based on measurements
of ground displacement amplitudes A of considered wave with periods T is.
M log10 A T max
, h Cr C s (5)
Where (∆,h), distance correction factor, is log of inverse of zero magnitude amplitude at an
epicentral distance ‘’ and focal depth ‘h’. Cr is the regional source correction term to account
for azimuth dependent source directivity and C s is the station correction factor dependent on
local site effects. (A/T) for different periods are computed and maximum of them is used in the
magnitude computation.
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M S log10 s 1.66 log10 3.3
A (6)
T max
Where AS is the amplitude of the horizontal ground motion in ‘m’ deduced from the surface
wave with period T (around 202 seconds) and epicentral distance is in degree.
b. Moment Magnitude:
The extent of strain release can be deduced by comparing accurate maps made just before
and after an earthquake. Though maps are unlikely to be made just before an earthquake,
earlier maps can reveal the extent of the strained area, and - coupled with measurements of
the rebound in a few places give a good idea of the area and amount of strain release. In
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addition to the above methods, there are other, more sophisticated ways of estimating the
dimensions of rupture and its displacement (such as examining the form of the seismic waves
radiated in different directions), but these will not be described.
Broadly, the larger the rupture, the larger will be the earthquake. The ruptures of small
earthquakes do not extend over the whole of the down-dip extent, W, of the fault plane, but
above some size of earthquake they do, and then a rupture can enlarge only by increasing its
length, L, along the fault. As a result, the dependence of seismic moment on rupture length is
different for small and large earthquakes. The relationship also depends on the type of fault.
Strike-slip faults do not have so large a depth W as thrust faults do, so, to produce a given
seismic moment, the rupture is longer, normal faults lie between. The largest earthquakes
have very great rupture lengths; for instance, for the 1960 Chile earthquake, one of the largest
in the past hundred years, the displacement, which was along a thrust fault, was 800 km long.
This suggests that earthquakes cannot be much larger, for to be so they would have to extend
across whole continents.
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3.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAGNITUDE AND INTENSITY:
The intensity and magnitude scales for estimating the size of an earthquake are defined
independently but they have some common features. Intensity is a measure of earth quake
size based on the degree of local damage it causes at the location of an observer. The
definition of magnitude is based on the amplitude of ground motion inferred from the signal
recorded by the observer's seismograph, and of course it is the nature of the ground motion -
its amplitude, velocity and acceleration - which produce the local damage used to classify
intensity. However, in the definition of magnitude the ground-motion amplitude is corrected for
epicentral distance and converted to a focal characteristic. Isoseismal maps showing the
regional distribution of damage give the maximum intensity (Imax ) experienced in an
earthquake. However, for earthquakes with focal depth h< 50 km the dependence of Imax on
the focal depth can be taken into account, and it is possible to relate the maximum intensity to
the magnitude with an empirical equation (Karnik, 1969):
I max 1.5M S 1.8 log10 h 1.7
This type of equation is useful for estimating quickly the probable damage that an earthquake
causes. For example, it predicts that in the epicentral region of an earthquake with magnitude
5 and a shallow focal depth of 10 km, the maximum MSK intensity will be VII (moderately
serious damage).
The definition of earthquake magnitude relates it to the logarithm of the amplitude of a seismic
disturbance. Noting that the energy of a wave is proportional to the square of its amplitude it
should be no surprise that the magnitude is also related to the logarithm of the energy. Several
equations have been proposed for this relationship. An empirical formula worked out by
Gutenberg and Richter (Gutenberg, 1956), relates the energy release E to the surface -wave
magnitude MS
log10 E 4.4 1.5M S (1)
More recently, Dr. Hiroo Kanamori came up with a relationship between seismic moment and
seismic wave energy. It gives:
Energy=(Moment)/20,000 (3)
For this relation moment is in units of dyne-cm, and energy is in units of ergs. The logarithmic
nature of eqn. 1 & 2 means that the energy release increases very rapidly with increasing
magnitude. For example, when the magnitudes of two earthquakes differ by 1, their
corresponding energies differ by a factor 28 (=10 1.44) according to Bath's equation, or 32 (10 1.5)
according to the Gutenberg-Richter formula. Hence, a magnitude 7 earthquake releases about
780 (= 102.88) to 1000 (= 10 3) times the energy of a magnitude 5 earthquake.
The seismic energy yield in terms of quantities of the explosive TNT (with assumption that one
ounce of TNT exploded below ground yields 640 million ergs of seismic wave energy,
1ounce=28.33gm, 16ounce=1pound, 1pound =454gm)
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3.6 GUTENBERG-RICHTER RECURRENCE LAW/ EARTHQUAKE FREQUENCY:
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