DISASTER READINESS AND RISK REDUCTION

Earthquake
Group 2: RESCUELLENCE
11 Excellence
● sudden shaking of the ground caused by the passage of
seismic waves through Earth’s rocks
○ Seismic waves are produced when some form of
energy stored in Earth’s crust is suddenly released,
usually when masses of rock straining against one
another suddenly fracture and “slip.”
● occur most often along geologic faults, narrow zones
where rock masses move in relation to one another.
● Little was understood about earthquakes until the
emergence of seismology at the beginning of the 20th
century.
● Seismology, which involves the scientific study of all
aspects of earthquakes, has yielded answers to such
long-standing questions as why and how earthquakes
occur.
THE NATURE OF
EARTHQUAKE
CAUSES OF
EARTHQUAKES
1. NATURAL FORCES
● Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy within some
limited region of the rocks of the Earth.
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● The energy can be released by elastic strain, gravity, chemical

reactions, or even the motion of massive bodies.
● Of all these the release of elastic strain is the most important cause,
because this form of energy is the only kind that can be stored in
sufficient quantity in the Earth to produce major disturbances.
● Earthquakes associated with this type of energy release are called
tectonic earthquakes.
TECTONICS
● Tectonic earthquakes are explained by the elastic rebound theory,
formulated by the American geologist Harry Fielding Reid after the
San Andreas Fault ruptured in 1906, generating the great San
Francisco earthquake.
● According to the theory, a tectonic earthquake occurs when strains
in rock masses have accumulated to a point where the resulting
stresses exceed the strength of the rocks, and sudden fracturing
results.
● The fractures propagate rapidly through the rock, usually tending in
the same direction and sometimes extending many kilometres along
a local zone of weakness.
 TYPES OF
EARTHQUAKE
TECTONIC

● A tectonic earthquake is one that occurs

when the earth's crust breaks due to
geological forces on rocks and adjoining
plates that cause physical and chemical
changes.
VOLCANIC
● A volcanic earthquake is any earthquake that
results from tectonic forces which occur in
conjunction with volcanic activity.
COLLAPSE

● A collapse earthquake are small earthquakes

in underground caverns and mines that are
caused by seismic waves produced from the
explosion of rock on the surface.
EXPLOSION

● An explosion earthquake is an earthquake

that is the result of the detonation of a
nuclear and/or chemical device.
TYPES OF FAULTS
 DIVERGENT/NORMAL
FAULT
● Normal faults form when the hanging wall
drops down. The forces that create normal
faults are pulling the sides apart, or
extensional.
 CONVERGENT/REVERSE
FAULT
Information architecture

● Reverse faults form when the hanging

wall moves up. The forces creating
reverse faults are compressional, pushing
the sides together.
 TRANSFORM/STRIKE-SLIP
FAULT
● Transcurrent or Strike-slip faults have
walls that move sideways, not up or down.
Component Detail

EARTHQUAKE WAVES
● There are 2 types of earthquakes waves and the difference lies in the
way the seismic waves are transmitted. To understand this better, let
us see what a seismic wave is.
● These are waves of energy that travel through the earth's layers, and
other elastic layers, often as a result of earthquakes. A wave, by
general definition is the transfer of energy from one place to another
without transferring solid, liquid or gas matter. Examples include
light and sound waves.
● During an earthquake, the waves released may be “P” or “S” waves
depending on the speed and ways in which they travel.
P-WAVES
● P-waves are longitudinal in nature. The vibrations are
along the same direction as the direction of travel.
● also known as compressional waves
● P-waves travel faster than S-waves.
S-WAVES
● The waves travel at right angles to the direction of
travel. They are also known as transverse waves and
example include water waves.
● If you are further away, you will feel the P-wave first
and then the S-wave a bit later.