EARTH QUAKES

Source: Kobe I EERI - Slide #43

 Earthquakes are a natural phenomena,
like drought, flood and Cyclones.

Earthquakes in simple terms is a sudden trembling or shaking

movement of the earth surface.

Larger earthquakes usually preceded by tremors and some violent

shocks and followed by smaller earthquakes of diminishing size
called aftershocks.
What are Earthquakes?
A sudden release of
energy accumulated in
deformed rocks
causing the ground to
tremble or shake.

- Causes rupturing
or brittle failure of
crustal rocks.

- Energy is released.

- Movement of fault
blocks takes place
along a fault plane.
Source: www.earth.leeds.ac.uk/dynamicearth
INSI DE E AR TH
 Layers of the Earth
By analyzing the seismograms from many
earthquakes, scientists have discovered
that three main levels or shells exist
within the Earth:

CRUST
The Earth's outermost surface is
called the crust. The crust is
Source: www.thetech.org relatively light and brittle. Most
MANTLE earthquakes occur within the crust.
The region just below Scientists believe that below the
the crust and lithosphere is a relatively narrow,
extending all the way mobile zone in the mantle called the
down to the Earth's asthenosphere (from asthenes,
core is called the Greek for weak).
mantle. The mantle, a
dense, hot layer of CORE Beneath the mantle is the Earth's core.
semi-solid rock The Earth's core consists of a fluid outer core and
approximately 2,900 a solid inner core.
km thick.
Local conv ecti ve current s in the mantl e
Maj or Tectoni c pl ates on the Ear th’ s surf ace
Types of inter pl ate boundari es
Types of Faults
Basic Term inology
Ar ri val of sei smic wave at a sit e
 SEISMIC WAVES

Sei smi c waves ar e of tw o types

- Body wav es
- Sur face waves

Body waves consist of Primary waves (P-waves) and

Secondary
waves (S-waves)

Surface waves consist of Love waves and Rayleigh

waves
Types of Waves
 MAGNITUDE

Magnitude is a quantitative measure of the actual size of the

earthquake. Its obtained from the seismogram and accounts for
the dependence of the wave form amplitude on epicentral distance

Increase in magnitude by 1.0 implies 10 times higher waveform

amplitude and about 31 times higher energy released.

For instance, energy released in a M7.7 earthquake is about 1000

times that released in a M5.7 earthquake.
 INTENSITY
Intensity is a qualitative measure of the actual shaking at a location
during an earthquake and it is assigned in Roman Capital Letters

There are many intensity scales. Two commonly used ones are
1) Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale.
2) MSK Scale

Both scales are quite similar and range from I(less perceptive) to
XII (most severe)

The intensity scales are based on three features of shaking

- perception by people and animals
- performance of buildings
- changes to surroundings
Basic Difference : Magnitude versus Intensity

Reducing illumination with distance from an electric bulb

 Schematic of early Seismograph

Some typical accelerograms

Indian Subcontinent: among the world’s most disaster
prone areas
65% of land vulnerable to Earthquakes
8% of land vulnerable to Cyclones
5% of land vulnerable to Floods
> 1 million houses damaged annually + human,
PAST EARTHQUAKES IN INDIA
Seismic
Zone
Map of
India:
Year-1962
Seismic
Zone
Map of
India:
-1966
Seismic
Zone
Map of
India:
-1970
 Seismic
Zone
Map of
India:
-2002
About 65 percent
of the land area of
India is liable to
seismic hazard
damage (about
26% under MSK
Intensity VII, 18%
under VIII and
12% under IX and
higher).
Seismic Map of Bihar
Earthquakes in Bihar
 04 June 1764 Bihar WB Brd 6.0
 23 Aug 1833 Nepal Brd 7.7
 23 May 1866 Nepal Brd
7.0
 23 May 1866 Jharkhand Bihar Brd
5.5
 30 Sept 1868 Hazaribagh 5.7
 07 Oct 1920 Bihar –UP Brd 5.5
 15 Jan 1934 Indo – Nepal Brd 8.0
 11 Jan 1962 Indo – Nepal Brd
6.0
 21 Aug 1988 Bihar Nepal Brd
6.8
hould social development increase vulnerability?

ncontrolled/unplanned development

ajor cities in hazardous zones

–Srinagar, Guwahati & all NE capitals are in zone V
–Jammu, Delhi, Patna, Jalandhar in IV
–Mumbai, Chennai,Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum,
Coimbatore, Kochi,Kozhikode in III

ajority of buildings wherein do not conform.

 Ear thquake Ri sk
azard = Probability of ground motion

te effects = Soil properties, topography

presence of Reservoirs (RIS),
Mines (MIS)

ulnerability = Building types, Age

isk = Hazard x Site effects x Vulnerab

Earthquake Don’t Kill
People
but
Buildings Do
 VULNERABILITY
• 1819 Gujarat [Kutch] 8.0 (2000 deaths)
• 2001 Gujarat [Bhuj] 6.9 (13805 deaths)
• Increased vulnerability in two centuries
How Architectural Features Affect Buildings During Earthquakes
The normal learning from other’s experiences….

Normal Long Term Human Response to

Earthquakes (Key, 1988)
The Himalayas…
among the most seismic
regions on earth..
•1833 Bihar 8.7
•1897 Assam 8.7
•1900 Coimbatore-
Palghat
•1905 Kangra HP
•1934 Bihar – Nepal
8.3
•1950 Assam 8.6
•1991 Uttarkashi 6.6
•1988 Bihar-Nepal 6.8
•1999 Chamoli 6.8
•Can we Bhuj
•2001 learn from others
6.7
experiences?
•And our own?
•
The fight against damage, destruction and death
from earthquake
Continues….
Let’s make a safer world

Thank You