EARTHQUAKE

(also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in
theEarth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of
an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of
time.

a sudden release of energy in the earth's crust or upper mantle, usuallycaused by movement a
long a fault plane or by volcanic activity andresulting in the generation of seismic waves whi
ch can be destructive.

Causes:
1. Fault Movement
Fault - is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been
significant displacement along the fractures as a result of earth movement. Large faults within
the Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the
boundaries between the plates, such as subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release
associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes.
A fault line is the surface trace of a fault, the line of intersection between the fault plane and
the Earth's surface.
Types of fault:
o Normal
- In a normal fault, the block above the fault moves down relative to the block below
the fault. This fault motion is caused by tensional forces and results in extension.
[Other names: normal-slip fault, tensional fault or gravity fault] EX., Sierra
Nevada/Owens Valley; Basin & Range faults

o Reversed

- In a reverse fault, the block above the fault moves up relative to the block below the
fault. This fault motion is caused by compressional forces and results in shortening.
A reverse fault is called a thrust fault if the dip of the fault plane is small. [Other
names: thrust fault, reverse-slip fault or compressional fault] EX., Rocky Mountains,
Himalayas

o Strike-slip fault
- In a strike-slip fault, the movement of blocks along a fault is horizontal. If the block
on the far side of the fault moves to the left, as shown in this animation, the fault is
called left-lateral. If the block on the far side moves to the right, the fault is called
right-lateral. The fault motion of a strike-slip fault is caused by shearing forces.
Examples: San Andreas Fault, California; Anatolian Fault, Turkey [Other names:
trans-current fault, lateral fault, tear fault or wrench fault.]
o Transformed
- A transform fault is a type of strike-slip fault wherein the relative horizontal slip is
accommodating the movement between two ocean ridges or other tectonic
boundaries. Additional animations on seafloor spreading and transform faults are
available from Tanya Atwater.
o Oblique
- Oblique-slip faulting suggests both dip-slip faulting and strike-slip faulting. It is
caused by a combination of shearing and tension or compressional forces. Nearly all
faults will have some component of both dip-slip (normal or reverse) and strike-slip,
so defining a fault as oblique requires both dip and strike components to be
measurable and significant.

2. Volcanism
-A volcano tectonic earthquake is an earthquake induced by the movement (injection or
withdrawal) of magma.[1] The movement results in pressure changes in the rock around where the
magma has experienced stress. At some point, the rock may break or move. The earthquakes may

also be related to dike intrusion and may occur as earthquake swarms.[2] An example is the 2007
2008 Nazko earthquake swarm in central British Columbia, Canada.
Other types of seismic activity related to volcanoes and their eruptions are long period seismic
waves, which are from sudden sporadic movement of magma, which is blocked from moving
due to a blockage. Another is a harmonic tremor, which is steady movement of magma, deep in
the mantle.

3. Induced Siesmicity
Induced seismicity refers to typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused
by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on the Earth's crust. Most induced
seismicity is of a low magnitude. A few sites regularly have larger quakes, such asThe
Geysers geothermal plant in California, which in the past 5 years has averaged 2 M4 events
and 15 M3 events every year.
There are many ways in which induced seismicity has been seen to occur. In the past several
years, some energy technologies that inject or extract fluid from the Earth, such as oil and
gas extraction and geothermal energy development, have been found or suspected to cause
seismic events. Some energy technologies also produce wastes that may be managed through
disposal or storage by injection deep into the ground. For example, waste water from oil and
gas production and carbon dioxide from a variety of industrial processes may be managed
through underground injection.
Ex, Artificial Lakes, Mining, Extraction of fossil fuels, Groundwater extraction, Enhanced
geothermal systems

The epicenter, epicentre /psntr/ or epicentrum[1] is the point on the Earth's surface that is
directly above thehypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion
originates.
An earthquake's hypocenter is the position where the strain energy stored in the rock is first
released, marking the point where thefault begins to rupture.[1] This occurs directly beneath
the epicenter, at a distance known as the focal or hypocentral depth.[1]
A seismic shadow zone is an area of the Earth's surface where seismographs cannot detect
an earthquake after its seismic waves have passed through the Earth. When an earthquake occurs,

seismic waves radiate out spherically from the earthquake's focus. The primary seismic
waves are refracted by the liquid outer core of the Earth and are not detected between 104 and
140 (between approximately 11,570 and 15,570 km or 7,190 and 9,670 mi) from the epicenter.
The secondary seismic waves cannot pass through the liquid outer core and are not detected
more than 104 (approximately 11,570 km or 7,190 mi) from the epicenter.
Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the Earth's layers, and are a result of
an earthquake, explosion, or a volcano that gives out low-frequency acoustic energy. Many other
natural and anthropogenic sources create low amplitude waves commonly referred to as ambient
vibrations. Seismic waves are studied by geophysicists called seismologists. Seismic wave fields
are recorded by a seismometer, hydrophone (in water), or accelerometer.
The propagation velocity of the waves depends on density and elasticity of the medium. Velocity
tends to increase with depth, and ranges from approximately 2 to 8 km/s in the Earth's crust up to
13 km/s in the deep mantle.
P-waves are a type of body wave that is the first wave to arrive to the seismograph,
called seismic waves in seismology, that can travel through a continuum. The continuum is made
up of gases (as sound waves), liquids, or solids, including the Earth. P-waves can be produced
by earthquakes and recorded by seismographs. The name P-wave is often said to stand either
for primary wave, as it has the highest velocity and is therefore the first to be recorded;
or pressure wave,[1] as it is formed from alternatingcompressions and rarefactions.
In isotropic and homogeneous solids, the mode of propagation of a P-wave is
always longitudinal; thus, the particles in the solid have vibrations along or parallel to the
travel direction of the wave energy.
A type of elastic wave, the S-wave, secondary wave, or shear wave (sometimes called
an elastic S-wave) is one of the two main types of elastic body waves, so named because they
move through the body of an object, unlike surface waves.
The S-wave moves as a shear or transverse wave, so motion is perpendicular to the direction of
wave propagation. The wave moves through elastic media, and the main restoring force comes
from shear effects. These waves do not diverge, and they obey the continuity equation for
incompressible media.

Measurement

A seismic scale is used to calculate and compare the severity of earthquakes.

Two fundamentally different but equally important types of scales are commonly used by
seismologists to describe earthquakes. The original force or energy of an earthquake is
measured on a magnitude scale, while the intensity of shaking occurring at any given point
on the Earth's surface is measured on an intensity scale.

Seismometers are instruments that measure motions of the ground, including those
of seismic waves generated by earthquakes,volcanic eruptions, and other seismic sources.
Records of seismic waves allow seismologists to map the interior of the Earth, and locate
and measure the size of these different sources.

The word derives from the Greek , seisms, a shaking or quake, from the verb
, se, to shake; and , mtron, measure and was coined by David Milne-Home in
1841, to describe an instrument designed by Scottish physicist James David Forbes.[1]

Seismograph is another Greek term from seisms and , grph, to draw. It is often
used to mean seismometer, though it is more applicable to the older instruments in which the
measuring and recording of ground motion were combined than to modern systems, in
which these functions are separated. Both types provide a continuous record of ground
motion; this distinguishes them from seismoscopes, which merely indicate that motion has
occurred, perhaps with some simple measure of how large it was.[2]

The concerning technical discipline is called seismometry,[3] a branch of seismology.

The concept of Earthquake Duration Magnitude - originally proposed by Bisztricsany[1] in

1958 using surface waves only - is based on the realization that on a recorded
earthquake seismogram the total length of the seismic wavetrain - sometimes referred to as
the CODA - reflects its size. Thus larger earthquakes give longer seismograms [as well as
stronger seismic waves] than small ones. The seismic wave interval measured on the time
axis of an earthquake record - starting with the first seismic wave onset until the
wavetrain amplitude diminishes to at least 10% of its maximum recorded value - is referred
to as "earthquake duration". It is this concept that Bisztricsany first used to develop
his Earthquake Duration Magnitude Scale employing surface wave durations.

TSUNAMI

A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water, sometimes reaching
heights of over 100 feet (30.5 meters), onto land. These walls of water can cause widespread
destruction when they crash ashore.
These awe-inspiring waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at
tectonic plate boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly it
displaces the water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami.
Most tsunamis, about 80 percent, happen within the Pacific Oceans Ring of Fire, a
geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common.
Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may
even be launched, as they frequently were in Earths ancient past, by the impact of a large
meteorite plunging into an ocean.
Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) an hourabout as fast
as a jet airplane. At that pace they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a
day. And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way.
In deep ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach
shoreline and enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height. The
tops of the waves move faster than their bottoms do, which causes them to rise precipitously.
A tsunamis trough, the low point beneath the waves crest, often reaches shore first.
When it does, it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbor
and sea floors. This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the
waves crest and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later.
Recognizing this phenomenon can save lives.
A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive
force may be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami
should remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await
official word that it is safe to return to vulnerable locations.
Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a
quickly surging tide that inundates coastal areas.
The best defense against any tsunami is early warning that allows people to seek higher
ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of 26 nations headquartered in Hawaii,
maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level gauges to identify tsunamis at sea. Similar
systems are proposed to protect coastal areas worldwide.

Tsunami vs. Tidal Waves

Tidal waves are waves created by the gravitational forces of the sun or moon, and
cause changes in the level of water bodies. Tsunami is also a series of water waves that are
caused because of the displacement of large bodies of water, but due to seismic disturbances.

Ravtalban