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l5 Epicenter and Hypocenter Magnitude and Intensity

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18 views29 pages

l5 Epicenter and Hypocenter Magnitude and Intensity

Uploaded by

ieuangavin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Shake, Rattle, and Roll

What happens during an earthquake?


• As plates of the lithosphere move, the stress on
rocks at or near the edges of the plates increases.
This stress causes faults to form.

• A fault is a break in a body of rock along which


one block moves relative to another.

• When rocks along a fault break and move, energy


is released into the surrounding rock in the form of
waves, causing earthquakes.
What happens during an earthquake?
• The location along a fault at which the first motion
of an earthquake takes place is called the focus.

• The epicenter is the point on Earth’s surface


directly above an earthquake’s starting point or
focus.
What happens during an earthquake?
• When rocks along a fault slip, the energy released
travels away from the focus and through Earth in
all directions as seismic waves.

• Seismic waves are vibrations that cause different


types of ground motion.

• The strength of an earthquake is based on the


energy that is released as rocks break and return
to an undeformed shape.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


Waves of Motion
What are two kinds of seismic waves?
• There are two kinds of seismic waves: body waves
and surface waves. Each kind travels through
Earth in different ways and at different speeds.

• Seismic waves carry energy, and their speed


depends on the material through which they
travel.

• Body waves are seismic waves that travel through


Earth’s interior. They are further divided into P
waves and S waves.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
What are two kinds of seismic waves?
• P waves, also called pressure waves or primary
waves, are the fastest body waves.

• P waves can travel through solids, liquids, and


gases. They cause rock to move back and forth in
the direction the wave is traveling.

• S waves, also called shear waves or secondary


waves, move rock from side to side. They cannot
travel through completely liquid parts of Earth.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


What are two kinds of seismic waves?
• Seismic waves that travel along Earth’s surface
are called surface waves.

• Body waves travel more rapidly than surface


waves do, but the latter, being focused on Earth’s
surface, cause more damage.

• Surface waves produce two types of ground


motion: up-and-down and back-and-forth.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


Wave Action!
How are seismic waves measured?
• Scientists use instruments called seismometers to
record seismic waves. When seismic waves reach
a seismometer, it produces a seismogram.

• A seismogram is a tracing of earthquake motion.


It also records the arrival times of seismic waves
at a seismometer station.

• Seismograms are plotted on a graph, which is then


used to pinpoint the earthquake’s epicenter.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


SEISMOGRAM
SEISMOGRAPH
How is earthquake magnitude measured?

• The height of the waves on a seismogram


indicates the amount of ground motion.

• Ground motion can be used to calculate


magnitude, the measure of energy released by
an earthquake.

• The larger the magnitude, the stronger the


earthquake.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


How are the Size and Strength of an
Earthquake Measured?
• Magnitude
A measure of the
amount of energy
released during an
earthquake
How is earthquake magnitude measured?

• The Richter scale measures the ground motion


from an earthquake to find the earthquake’s
strength.

• An increase in the magnitude by one unit


corresponds to a ten-fold increase in ground
motion.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


How is earthquake magnitude measured?

• Earthquake strength is also measured by the


Moment Magnitude scale, which is more accurate
for large earthquakes than the Richter scale is.

• It is based on the size of the area of the moving


fault, the average distance that the fault moves,
and the rigidity of the rocks in the fault.

• The moment magnitude of an earthquake is


expressed by a number. The larger the number,
the stronger the earthquake.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


WAYS TO
MEASURE
THE
MAGNITUDE OF
AN
EARTHQUAKE
Charles F. Richter
• An American
seismologist
and physicist .
The creator of
the Richter
Magnitude
Scale
Moment Magnitude
Scale
• It is based on the total moment
release of the earthquake.
• Distance a fault moved X force
required to move it =MOMENT
• Works over a wider range of
earthquake sizes and globally
applicable
Thomas H.
Heaton Hiroo Kanamori
How is earthquake intensity measured?
• The effects of an earthquake and how the
earthquake is felt by people are known as the
earthquake’s intensity.

• Magnitude measures how much energy is released


by an earthquake. Intensity measures the effects
of an earthquake at Earth’s surface.

• The Modified Mercalli scale is used to describe an


earthquake’s intensity. Intensity values are usually
highest near the epicenter.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


INTENSITY
• describes how much ground
shaking occurred, or how "strong"
an earthquake was, at a particular
location.
• a number (written as a Roman
numeral) describing the severity of
an earthquake in terms of its
effects on the earth's surface and
on humans and their structure
Mercalli Intensity Scale
• Uses the observations of
the people who
experienced the
earthquake to estimate
the intensity.
• Invented by Giuseppe
Giuseppe Mercalli
Damage Control
What factors determine the effects of an earthquake?

• Four factors determine the effects of an


earthquake: magnitude, local geology, distance
from the epicenter, and type of construction used.

• An earthquake’s magnitude is directly related to


its strength. Stronger earthquakes cause more
damage than weaker earthquakes.

• As an earthquake’s magnitude increases, the


earthquake’s intensity is commonly higher.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


What factors determine the effects of an earthquake?

• When water-saturated soil or sediment is shaken


by seismic waves, the soil and sediment particles
become completely surrounded by water.

• This process is called liquefaction.

• It can intensify ground shaking or cause the


ground to settle. Settling can cause structures to
tilt or collapse.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


What factors determine the effects of an earthquake?

• The more energy a surface wave carries, the


stronger the ground motion will be and the more
damage the wave will cause.

• However, surface waves decrease in size and


energy the farther they travel from the epicenter.

• Therefore, the farther an area is located from the


epicenter, the less damage it will suffer.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


What factors determine the effects of an earthquake?

• The materials with which structures are built also


determine the amount of earthquake damage.

• Flexible structures are more likely to survive


strong ground shaking.

• Taller buildings are more susceptible to damage


than shorter buildings.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


What factors determine the effects of an earthquake?

• Special technologies control how much tall


buildings sway during earthquakes.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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