STALWART WORLD SCHOOL , VERKA BYPASS AMRITSIR
Topic-
Earthquake
Submit To- Rosy Mam
Submit By - Akshita Thakur
Class – 8th ‘A’
Roll No. – 05
EARTHQUAKE
• Earthquake is also a natural force, like the other
endogenetic forces of the earth's crust.
• Generally, earthquake means a sudden tremor of the
earth.
• In other words, we can say that earthquake is that
natural phenomenon which causes disturbance in the
earth's crust.
• Earthquakes waves move on the crust in a series in the
same way as the water waves move in all the four
directions in a pond, when a stone thrown into it.
• Whenever earthquakes strikes, the ground surface
moves and due to the lack of motion on the earth it is
taken as tremor.
EARTHQUAKE
• Earth quakes experts have given various
definitions of the term. The main among them
are enlisted below:-
• According to J.B. Macelwana," An earthquake is
a vibration or oscillation of the surface of the
earth caused by a transient disturbance of elastic
or gravitational equilibrium of the rocks at or
beneath the surface."
• To Arthur Holmes, "An earthquake is the passage
of these vibrations. In the neighbourhood of the
disturbance itself the shaking of the ground can
be felt and effects may be catastrophic, but
further away the tremors die down until they can
be detected only by delicate instruments called
seismographs."
Terms related to Earthquake
1. Richter Scale :-
• It is an instrument to measure the intensity or magnitude of the energy released by an
earthquake.
• Richter scale was devised by Charles F. Richter in 1935.
2. Focus:-
• The place from where an earthquake strikes is called focus or the place of the origin of an
earthquake.
• The depth of the focus varies from place to place.
• The deepest earthquake of the world has focus at the depth of 700 kilometers below the
ground surface in the major Himalayan mountains.
Terms related to Earthquakes and Seismology
3. Epicentre –
• The place on the ground surface which records the seismic waves for the very first time is called
epicentre.
• Epicentre and focus are perpendicular to each other forming a straight line.
4. Seismic Waves :-
• Seismic waves are the waves generated by an earthquake.
5. Seismograph or Seismometer :-
• An instrument which records the seismic waves is called Seismograph or Seismometer.
6. Seismology :-
• The science dealing with the seismic waves, is called Seismology.
Seismograph
Terms related to Earthquakes and Seismology
7. Isoseismal Line :-
• The imaginary line which joins the places of an area having equal earthquake intensity is called
Isoseismal line.
8. Homoseismal Line :-
• The imaginary line which joins the places of an area having the earth tremor at the same time is called
Homoseismal line.
9. Type of Earthquakes Waves:-
• Earthquake waves can be divided into three parts on the basis of their motion, path and speed. The
detailed study of the earthquake waves has been given in the chapter related with the interior of the
earth.
Type of Earthquakes Waves
i. P–Waves -These are also known as Primary waves .
They are longitudinal waves like sound waves in
which the movement of the particles is in the
direction of the propagation of waves. Their average
velocity is 8 km per second which is higher than any
other waves. P-waves can travel through all the
mediums including solids, liquids, and gases .
ii. S–Waves -These are known as Secondary waves and
are transverse like light waves . The movement of
the particles is at right angles to the direction of the
waves. Their average velocity is 4 km per second.
They can travel through solids only and disappear in
liquids.
iii. L–Waves -These are also known as Long waves.
They travel along the surface of the earth and are
often referred as Surface waves. L-waves can travel
through all the mediums (solids , liquids and gases),
but their average velocity is just 3 km per second .
Causes of Earthquakes
• It is riddle to find an answer to the question. Why do the earthquakes strike?
• During the primitive age these quakes were taken as the natural calamities.
• The people of that age believed when earth becomes helpless to suffer the crime of the period, the
earthquakes are caused.
• According to Hindu Mythology, the whole of the earth is balanced on the horns of the cow's calf.
When the ox changes the horn, the earthquakes strike.
• But now a days these religious myths lose the ground.
• The main scientific causes of the quakes are as given below:-
THANKS
