Consequences of earthquake :rupture
and ground failure –liquefaction –
landslides-fire-tsunamis
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of
energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves caused by the sudden relative movement
of the earth's tectonic plates
KEY FACTORS OF DAMAGE
• Amount & duration of shaking
• Water content of soil
• Population concentration
• Building construction
• Distance from Epicenter
• Depth of focus
• Direction of rupture
CONSEQUENCES OF EARTHQUAKE
•Faulting and Ground Rupture
--Breakage or rupture of the ground surface along the trace of a fault, as
caused by an earthquake
-- The slip of a fault during an earthquake results in large-scale relative
displacements of the earth on opposite sides of the fault. These relative
displacements can be as large as 10 m.
-When fault slip extends to the ground surface, the resulting ground
displacements are termed “ground rupture.”
Liquefaction
--Liquefaction is defined as the transformation of a granular soil from a solid state
to a liquefied state as a consequence of increased pore pressure and reduced
effective stress
- - During an earthquake, significant damage can result due to instability of the soil in
the area affected by internal seismic waves.
-- The soil response depends on the mechanical characteristics of the soil layers, the
depth of the water table and the intensities and duration of the ground shaking.
--If the soil consists of deposits of loose granular materials it may be compacted by the
ground vibrations induced by the earthquake, resulting in large settlement and
differential settlements of the ground surface.
--This compaction of the soil may result in the development of excess hydrostatic pore
water pressures of sufficient magnitude to cause liquefaction of the soil, resulting in
settlement, tilting and rupture of structures
Liquefaction occurs when very wet soil is affected by strong ground motion. Soil particles
(sand and silt) shift and separate during shaking.
This reduces the ability of the ground to support the building on top of it, and may cause
buildings to sink and foundations to separate.
Landslides
-- Avalanches, landslides, slumps and rock slides are triggered by ground shaking. These
landslides are often more destructive than the earthquakes.
-- The passage of the earthquake waves through the rock and soil produces a complex set
of accelerations that effectively act to change the gravitational load on the slope.
-- vertical accelerations successively increase and decrease the normal load acting on the slope.
-- Similarly, horizontal accelerations induce a shearing force due to the inertia of the landslide
mass during the accelerations.
--These processes are complex, but can be sufficient to induce failure of the slope. These
processes can be much more serious in mountainous areas in which the seismic waves interact
with the terrain to produce increases in the magnitude of the ground accelerations.
Fire
-- Fires, often associated with broken electrical and gas lines, is one of
the common side effects of earthquakes.
-- To complicate things water lines are broken and so there is no water
to extinguish the fire. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 caused
90% of damage by fire.
Tsunami
--A tsunami is usually caused
by a powerful earthquake
under the ocean floor. This
earthquake pushes a large
volume of water to the
surface, creating waves.
These waves are the tsunami.
-- Tsunamis Are Associated
with Subduction Zone
Earthquakes
-- a tsunami wave can reach
10 m or more in height
A subduction zone is a boundary where two tectonic plates collide and, because of
differences in density, one dives beneath the other. This occurs frequently where an
oceanic plate meets a continental plate. The denser and thicker oceanic plate is shoved
underneath the less dense continental plate
--Subduction zones only occur at convergent boundaries between oceans and continents,
and oceans and oceans When oceanic lithosphere converges with continental lithosphere
it is the oceanic material that is always subducted beneath the continental material.
--When the convergent boundary is between two oceans it the older (heavier) plate
which usually subducts.
--eg:Pacific plate (oceanic) subducting beneath North American plate (continental) – in
Alaska
Two dominant features associated with subduction zones are:
• deep earthquakes
• volcanoes
