MODULE 2

Syllabus

Earthquake Basics:
∑ Consequences of earthquake ground motion: Ground rupture and ground
failure, liquefaction , Landslides, Fire, Tsunamis
∑ Structure of the Earth-Plate Tectonics-Evolution of Indian subcontinent
∑ Waves generated by ground motion and their characteristics: Body Waves (
Longitudinal waves; Transverse waves ), Surface waves ( Rayleigh waves)
∑ Attenuation of waves, Random direction of Shaking
∑ Distribution of earthquakes: Global, Indian
∑ Measurement of earthquakes: Introduction of instruments used for measuring
earthquakes, Seismograph, accelerograph, various scales of magnitude, various
scales of intensity.

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 CONSEQUENCES OF EARTHQUAKE GROUND MOTION
Shaking of the ground is caused by the passage of seismic waves, especially surface
waves near the epicenter of the earthquake which are responsible for most of the
damages during an earthquake. The main consequences of earthquake are:

Ground Motion

The most destructive of all earthquake hazards is caused by seismic waves reaching the
ground surface at places where human-built structures, such as buildings and bridges,
are located. When seismic waves reach the surface of the earth at such places, they give
rise to what is known as strong ground motion. Strong ground motions cause’s
buildings and other structures to move and shake in a variety of complex ways. Many
buildings cannot withstand this movement and suffer damages of various kinds and
degrees.

Most deaths, injuries, damages and economic losses caused by earthquake result from
ground motion acting on buildings and other manmade structures not capable of
withstanding such movement.

Ground Failure

Strong ground motion is also the primary cause of damages to the ground and soil
upon which, or in which, people must build. These damages to the soil and ground can
take a variety of forms: cracking and fissuring and weakening, sinking, settlement and
surface fault displacement.

One of the most important types of ground failure is known as liquefaction.

Liquefaction takes place when loosely packed, water-logged sediments at or near the
ground surface lose their strength in response to strong ground shaking. Liquefaction
occurring beneath buildings and other structures can cause major damage during
earthquakes.

Ground Sliding

Strong ground motion is also the primary cause of damages to the ground and soil
upon which, or in which, people must build. These damages to the soil and ground can
take a variety of forms: cracking and fissuring and weakening, sinking, settlement and
surface fault displacement.

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Ground Tilting

Sometimes, due to earthquake, there is tilting action in the ground. This causes plain
land to tilt, causing excessive stresses on buildings, resulting in damage to buildings.

Differential Settlement

If a structure is built upon soil which is not homogeneous, then there is differential
settlement, with some part of the structure sinking more than other. This induces
excessive stresses and causes cracking.

Ground Rupture

∑ Surface rupture occurs when movement on a fault breaks through to the

surface.
∑ Rupture may occur suddenly during an earthquake or slowly in the form
of fault creep.
∑ Fault rupture almost always follows pre-existing faults, which are zones
of weakness.
∑ A complex fault pattern results where the main fault zone is complicated
by branching and formation of secondary faults where lesser
displacements occur.
∑ The main trace on the ground surface can be a single rupture or can
consist of parallel, branching, or interlacing fractures.
∑ The width of this may vary from a few centimetres to hundreds of meters.

∑ Those constructions built parallel to the fault will survive while structures
built across these zones will collapse.

Liquefaction

When there is ground water less than 30 feet from the surface in soils that contain layers
of sand, the pressures generated by repetitive squeezing of the earth by several seconds
of seismic wave vibrations will cause the ground water to flow up and out. When this
occurs, the sand grains, which have no strength except when touching each other, are
forced apart. The ground then takes on the properties of a semi-solid. When it happens
over a large area, houses and buildings with inadequate foundations may actually sink
slightly. When liquefaction happens in a small area, liquefied sand can be ejected to the

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surface through fissures in the overlying layers. Soil failure, as described earlier, will
have a larger impact on pipelines and pile foundations, and other structures below the
surface of the earth.

. Liquefaction occurs only under ideal conditions as a result of an earthshaking event

and is controlled by the following variables:

∑ Grain size of the soil

∑ Duration of the earthquake and amplitude and frequency of shaking
∑ Distance from the epicenter
∑ Location of the water table
∑ Cohesiveness of the soil
∑ Permeability of the layer

Liquefaction of the soil, results in settlement, tilting and rupture of structures.

Example of a building ruptured due to liquefaction

The effects of soil liquefaction on the built environment can be extremely damaging.
Buildings whose foundations bear directly on sand which liquefies will experience a
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sudden loss of support, which will result in drastic and irregular settlement of the
building causing structural damage, including cracking of foundations and damage to
the building structure itself, or may leave the structure unserviceable afterwards, even
without structural damage. Where a thin crust of non-liquefied soil exists between
building foundation and liquefied soil, a 'punching shear' type foundation failure may
occur. The irregular settlement of ground may also break underground utility lines. The
upward pressure applied by the movement of liquefied soil through the crust layer can
crack weak foundation slabs and enter buildings through service ducts, and may allow
water to damage the building contents and electrical services.

Landslides

Landslides constitute a major geologic hazard. A landslide, also known as a landslip, is

a form of mass wasting that includes a wide range of ground movements, such as rock
falls, deep failure of slopes, and shallow debris flows. They are widespread, result in
damages and cause fatalities each year. Landslides are frequently triggered by strong
ground motions. They are an important secondary earthquake hazard.

Earthquakes and volcanoes contribute significantly to the landslide hazards:

• earthquakes create stresses that make weak slopes fail
• earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 and greater have been known to trigger landslides.

Landslides occur when the slope changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A
change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together
or alone. Natural causes of landslides include:

∑ groundwater (pore water) pressure acting to destabilize the slope

∑ loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil structure (e.g.
after a wildfire - a fire in forests lasting for 3–4 days)
∑ erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves
∑ weakening of a slope through saturation by snow melt, glaciers melting, or heavy
rains
∑ earthquakes adding loads to barely stable slope
∑ earthquake-caused liquefaction destabilizing slopes
∑ volcanic eruptions
Landslides are aggravated by human activities, such as

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∑ deforestation, cultivation and construction, which destabilize the already fragile
slopes.
∑ vibrations from machinery or traffic
∑ blasting
∑ earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on an
existing slope
∑ in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds colluviums to
bedrock
∑ construction, agricultural or forestry activities (logging) which change the amount
of water infiltrating the soil.
Fire:

Fires, often associated with broken electrical and gas lines, is one of the common side
effects of earthquakes.

They can be a serious problem, especially if the water lines that

feed the fire hydrants are broken, too. For example, after the
Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, the city burned for
three days. Most of the city was destroyed and 250,000 people
were left homeless.

Most of the hazards to people come from man-made structures themselves and the
shaking they receive from the earthquake. The real dangers to people are being crushed
in a collapsing building, drowning in a flood caused by a broken dam or levee, getting
buried under a landslide, or being

TSUNAMIS:

Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically
displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake
that are associated with the earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur
beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium
position. Waves are formed as the displaced water mass, which acts under the influence
of gravity, attempts to regain its equilibrium. When large areas of the sea floor elevate
or subside, a tsunami can be created.

Large vertical movements of the earth's crust can occur at plate boundaries. Plates
interact along these boundaries called faults. Around the margins of the Pacific Ocean,

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for example, denser oceanic plates slip under continental plates in a process known as
subduction. Subduction earthquakes are particularly effective in generating tsunamis.

Tsunami Initiation

A sudden offset changes the elevation of the ocean and initiates a water wave that
travels outward from the region of sea-floor disruption. Tsunamis can travel all the way
across the ocean and large earthquakes in Alaska and Chile have generated waves that
caused damage and deaths in regions as far away as California, Hawaii and Japan.

Tsunamis are initiated by a sudden displacement of the ocean,

commonly caused by vertical deformation of the ocean floor
during earthquakes. Other causes such as deformation by
landslides and volcanic processes also generate tsunamis.

The speed of this wave depends on the ocean depth and is typically about as fast as a
commercial passenger jet (about 0.2 km/s or 712 km/hr). This is relatively slow
compared to seismic waves, so we are often alerted to the dangers of the tsunami by the
shaking before the wave arrives. The trouble is that the time to react is not very long in
regions close to the earthquake that caused the tsunami.

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 In deep water tsunamis are not large and pose no danger.
They are very broad with horizontal wavelengths of hundreds
of kilometres and surface heights much smaller, about one
meter.

Tsunamis pose no threat in the deep ocean because they are only a meter or so high in
deep water. But as the wave approaches the shore and the water shallows, all the
energy that was distributed throughout the ocean depth becomes concentrated in the
shallow water and the wave height increases.

When a tsunami approaches the shore, the water depth

decreases, the front of the wave slows down, the wave grows
dramatically, and surges on land.

Typical heights for large tsunamis are on the order of 10s of meters and a few have
approached 90 meters (about 300 feet). These waves are typically more devastating to
the coastal region than the shaking of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. Even the
more common tsunamis of about 10-20 meters can "wipe clean" coastal communities.

Deadly tsunamis occur about every one to two years and they have at times killed
thousands of people. In 1992-93 three large tsunamis occurred: one in Japan, Indonesia,
and Nicaragua. All struck at night and devastated the local communities.

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 STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH-PLATE TECTONICS

The theory of plate tectonics, presented in early 1960s, explains that the lithosphere is
broken into seven large (and several smaller) segments called plates. The upper most
part of the earth is considered to be divided into two layers with different deformation
properties. The upper rigid layer, called the lithosphere, is about 100 km thick below the
continents, and about 50 km under the oceans, and consists of Crust and rigid upper-
mantle rocks. The lower layer, called the asthenosphere, extends down to about 700 km
depth. The rigid lithospheric shell is broken into several irregularly shaped major plates
and a large number of minor or secondary plates. The lithospheric plates are not
stationary, on the contrary, they float in a complex pattern, with a velocity of some 2-10
cm/year on the soft rocks of the underlying asthenosphere like rafts on a lake. This
theory requires a source that can generate tremendous force is acting on the plates. The
widely accepted explanation is based on the force offered by convection currents
created by thermo-mechanical behavior of the earth’s subsurface. The variation of
mantle density with temperature produces an unstable equilibrium. The colder and
denser upper layer sinks under the action of gravity to the warmer bottom layer which
is less dense. The lesser dense material rises upwards and the colder material as it sinks
gets heated up and becomes less dense. These convection currents create shear stresses
at the bottom of the plates which drags them along the surface of earth.

The continental sized plates are African, American, Antarctic, Indo-Australian, Eurasian
and pacific plate. Apart from this, several smaller plates like Andaman, Philippine plate
also exist. As plate glides over the asthenosphere, the continents and oceans move with
it. Because the plates move in different directions, they knock against their neighbors at
boundaries. The great forces thus generated at plate boundary build mountain ranges,

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cause volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Most of the Earth’s major geological activity
occurs at plate boundaries, the zones where plates meet and interact.
The earthquake that occurs at a plate boundary is known as inter-plate earthquake. Not
all earthquakes occur at plate boundaries. Though, interior portion of a plate is usually
tectonically quiet, earthquakes also occur far from plate boundaries. These earthquakes
are known as intra-plate earthquakes. The recurrence time for an intraplate earthquake
is much longer than that of inter-plate earthquakes.

FIG. Map showing Earth’s major tectonic plates with arrows depicting the directions of plate
movement

ÈVOLUTION OF INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT

The Indian subcontinent is a vast area the size of Europe, and is today divided into the
separate countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Within the subcontinent itself,
there is a wide variety of peoples, languages and religions. Their distribution is largely
a result of physical aspects of the land itself, which in turn shaped historical events such
as migrations and invasions.

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Eighty million years ago, India was approximately 6400 km (3968 miles) south of the
Eurasian plate. Separating the two was the Tethys Sea. The Indo-Australian tectonic
plate – containing the continent of Australia, the Indian subcontinent, and surrounding
ocean – was pushed northward by the convection currents generated in the inner
mantle. For millions of years, India made its way across the sea toward the Eurasian
plate. As India approached Asia, around 40 million years ago, the Tethys Sea began to
shrink and its seabed slowly pushed upwards. The Tethys Sea disappeared completely
around 20 million years ago and sediments rising from its seabed formed a mountain
range. When India and Tibet collided, instead of descending with the plate, the
relatively light sedimentary and metamorphic rock that makes up the subcontinent of
India pushed against Tibet, forcing it upwards, and created a massive mountain fold.

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Flowing to the east were the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Flowing to the west were
the five rivers, which formed the basin of the Indus Valleys. Along these river valleys,
millions of years later, would grow some of the world's greatest civilizations.

The sub-continent of India had been born!

WAVES GENERATED BY GROUND MOTION AND THEIR

CHARACTERISTICS
Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the Earth's layers, and are a result
of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, magma movement, large landslides and large man-
made explosions that give out low-frequency acoustic energy. 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.)

Earthquakes create distinct types of waves with different velocities (when reaching
seismic observatories, their different travel times help scientists to locate the source of
the hypocenter).

Types of waves

Among the many types of seismic waves, one can make a broad distinction between
Body waves, which travel through the Earth; and Surface waves, which travel at the
Earth's surface.

∑ Body waves travel through the interior of the Earth. Surface waves travel across
the surface.
∑ Surface waves decay more slowly with distance than do body waves, which
travel in three dimensions.
∑ Particle motion of surface waves is larger than that of body waves, so surface
waves tend to cause more damage.

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BODY WAVES

Body waves travel through the interior of the Earth along paths controlled by the material
properties in terms of density and modulus (stiffness). The density and modulus, in turn,
vary according to temperature, composition, and material phase. Two types of particle
motion result in two types of body waves: Primary and Secondary waves.

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Primary waves:

∑ Primary waves (P-waves) are compressional waves that are longitudinal in nature.
∑ P waves are pressure waves that travel faster than other waves through the earth to
arrive at seismograph stations firstly, hence the name "Primary".
∑ These waves can travel through any type of material, including fluids, and can travel
at nearly twice the speed of S waves.
∑ In air, they take the form of sound waves, hence they travel at the speed of
sound. Typical speeds are 330 m/s in air, 1450 m/s in water and about 5000 m/s
in granite.

Secondary waves:

∑ Secondary waves (S-waves) are shear waves that are transverse in nature.
∑ Following an earthquake event, S-waves arrive at seismograph stations after the
faster-moving P-waves and displace the ground perpendicular to the direction of
propagation. Depending on the propagation direction, the wave can take on

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 different surface characteristics; for example, in the case of horizontally polarized
S waves, the ground moves alternately to one side and then the other.
∑ S-waves can travel only through solids, as fluids (liquids and gases) do not support
shear stresses.
∑ S-waves are slower than P-waves, and speeds are typically around 60% of that of
P-waves in any given material.

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SURFACE WAVES

Seismic surface waves travel along the Earth's surface. They can be classified as a form of
mechanical surface waves. They are called surface waves, as they diminish as they get
further from the surface. They travel more slowly than seismic body waves (P and S). In
large earthquakes, surface waves can have an amplitude of several centimeters.

Rayleigh waves:

∑ Rayleigh waves, also called ground roll, are surface waves that travel as ripples
with motions that are similar to those of waves on the surface of water.
∑ The existence of these waves was predicted by John William Strutt, Lord
Rayleigh, in 1885.
∑ They are slower than body waves, roughly 90% of the velocity of S waves for
typical homogeneous elastic media. In the layered medium (like the crust and
upper mantle) the velocity of the Rayleigh waves depends on their frequency
and wavelength.

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Love waves:

∑ Love waves are horizontally polarized shear waves (SH waves), existing only in the
presence of a semi-infinite medium overlain by an upper layer of finite thickness.
They are named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who created a
mathematical model of the waves in 1911.
∑ They usually travel slightly faster than Rayleigh waves, about 90% of the S wave
velocity, and have the largest amplitude.
∑

Stoneley waves:

∑ A Stoneley wave is a type of boundary wave (or interface wave) that propagates
along a solid-fluid boundary or, under specific conditions, also along a solid-solid
boundary.
∑ Amplitudes of Stoneley waves have their maximum values at the boundary between
the two contacting media and decay exponentially towards the depth of each of
them.
∑ These waves can be generated along the walls of a fluid-filled borehole, being an
important source of coherent noise in VSPs and making up the low frequency
component of the source in sonic logging.

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 ATTENUATION OF WAVES

∑ Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the earth for example
after an earthquake. There are two main types of seismic waves, the surface
waves and the body waves.
∑ Body waves are waves that penetrate deeply thorough the interior of the Earth.
These waves represent short pulses of propagating energy. They follow refracted
ray paths determined by the elastic moduli and densities of different regions of
the Earth’s interior. There are two types of body waves generated, the P and S
waves (Lay and Wallace, 1995).
∑ The P waves are the fastest moving waves and are simply sound waves. The P
wave is a longitudinal wave made up of a series of compressions and
rarefactions. This type of wave forces the point in Earth from where it passes to
vibrate back and forth in the direction in which the wave is travelling.
∑ The S waves unlike the P waves are transverse waves. They cause the particles of
the medium to move perpendicular to the path along which the wave is
travelling.

Seismic Attenuation

The amplitude of a seismic pulse in an idealized, purely elastic earth is controlled by the
reflection and transmission of energy at the boundaries and by geometric spreading.
These seismic waves can propagate indefinitely once they are excited. But this would be
true if the earth was perfectly elastic. It is known that the real earth is not perfectly
elastic. This causes the waves that are propagating to attenuate with time as they travel.
This attenuation in the propagating waves is caused due to various energy loss
mechanisms. Due to the conservation of energy, it is known that the energy switches
from being potential to kinetic exactly without any losses. However this is only true if
there is no other form of energy involved. As the wave travels, its energy experiences a
continuous conversion between potential energy due to the particle position and kinetic
energy due to the particle velocity. This energy conversion is not perfectly reversible as
the wave propagates. Apart from these types of energies that are continuously being
exchanged as the wave propagates, there is also work being done. This work done can
take many forms such as work done as the wave travels along mineral dislocations.
Work is also done as shear heating at the grain boundaries. These processes are
described collectively as internal friction. These will all affect the energy of the wave as
the wave travels away from the seismic source. The simplest way to describe
attenuation is by using an oscillating mass attached to a spring.

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Intrinsic Attenuation

There is another factor that affects seismic amplitudes. This is energy loss due to an
elastic processes or internal friction during wave propagation. This is called intrinsic
attenuation (Shearer, 1999). The strength of intrinsic attenuation is given by the
dimensionless quantity Q in terms of the frictional energy loss per cycle

where E is the peak strain energy and is the energy loss per cycle. Q is usually known as
the quality factor. It is often needed to talk about the inverse of the quality factor, Q-1. Q
is inversely related to the strength of the attenuation.

Scattering Attenuation

There is another different type of attenuation called scattering attenuation. This is the
effect of seismic amplitudes in the main seismic arrivals are reduced by scattering off
smallscale heterogeneities. This is different from other types of attenuation since the
integrated energy in the total wave field remains constant.

RANDOM VIBRATION OF SHAKING

∑ Vibration of earth produced by rapid release of energy (seismic waves) with

radiate in all directions from the source.
∑ Like ripples from dropping a stone in a pond, energy dissipates with distance.
∑ Earthquakes don't occur randomly. Occur on faults or fractures within the earth
∑ Explained by plate tectonics. Most occur on plate boundaries,Sometimes in plate
interiors if enough stress is built up if enough stress is built up .

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The shallow subsurface behaves nonlinearly during strong seismic shaking. Three to
five classes of related brittle phenomena constrain the effect

∑ The attenuation of strong shallow seismic waves increases at high amplitude

∑ The low‐amplitude seismic velocity decreases after strong shaking and
subsequently slowly heals
∑ Strong shaking triggers shallow very small earthquakes. The largest of these
shallow events produce brief extreme ground accelerations
∑ Geomorphic studies indicate that damaged easily eroded regolith exists near
major seismically active fault. Shattered rock and smooth topography occur in
the hanging wall of major thrust faults.
∑ Changes in the permeability of shallow rocks and of groundwater pressure in
shallow wells in the aftermath of strong shaking are conceivably related to rock
damage on fractures. This effect, however, is usually attributed to shaking
disrupting debris that clog choke points in groundwater flow paths and to
transient groundwater pressure variations due to shaking.

Conceptual diagram of three‐dimensional fracture network in brittle rock. Crack zone

failure in shear during strong dynamic shaking. Microscopic stresses of a few gigapascals
exist at real grain‐grain contacts. Frictional dilatancy and changes in microscopic stress
accompany failure in crack zones. Crack zones with high residual stresses are indicated
with orange. Islands of intact rock with low stresses may exist within the macroscopic
network. Bedding planes are likely fracture surfaces within brittle sedimentary rocks.

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 DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES: GLOBAL, INDIAN

Global distribution of earthquake

The Pacific Ring of Fire accounts for about 68 per cent of all earthquakes and these are
closely linked with the phenomenon of plate tectonics. Chile, California, Alaska, Japan,
Philippines, New Zealand and the mid-ocean areas have had many minor and major
earthquakes in this belt. Mountains here run along the border of continents and nearly
parallel to the depressions in oceans. The sharpest break in relief in this belt is the cause
of earthquake.

The mid-world mountain belt extends parallel to the equator from Mexico across the
Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea from Alpine- Caucasus ranges’ to the Caspian,
Himalayan Mountains and the adjoining lands. This zone has folded mountains, large
depressions and active volcanoes.

The remaining 11 per cent of the shocks are recorded outside these two belts. Only a
few occur along the fracture in African lakes, Red Sea and the Dead Sea zone. For
geographical distribution of earthquakes. For an account of earthquakes in the Indian
sub-continent, Physical Aspects in Indian Geography section.

Indian distribution of earthquake

India being a large landmass is particularly prone to earthquakes. The Indian

subcontinent is divided into four seismic zones with respect to the severity of the
earthquakes. The varying geology at different locations in the country implies that the
likelihood of damaging earthquakes taking place at different locations is different. Thus,
a seismic zone map is required to identify these regions. Based on the levels of
intensities sustained during damaging past earthquakes, the 1970 version of the zone
map subdivided India into five zones – I, II, III, IV and V. The maximum Modified
Mercalli (MM) intensity of seismic shaking expected in these zones were V or less, VI,
VII, VIII, and IX and higher, respectively. Parts of Himalayan boundary in the north and
northeast, and the Kachchh area in the west were classified as zone V.
Seismic zone map in 1962, which was later revised in 1967 and again in 1970. The map
has been revised again in 2002 and it now has only four seismic zones – II, III, IV and V
(figure below). The areas falling in seismic zone I in the 1970 version of the map are
merged with those of seismic zone II. Also, the seismic zone map in the peninsular
region has been modified. Madras now comes in seismic zone III as against in zone II in

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the 1970 version of the map. This 2002 seismic zone map is not the final word on the
seismic hazard of the country, and hence there can be no sense of complacency in this
regard.

Classification of Zones and its characteristics:

Zone 5

¸ It covers the areas with the highest risks zone that suffers earthquakes of
intensity MSK IX or greater
¸ It is referred to as the Very High Damage Risk Zone
¸ The region of Kashmir, the western and central Himalayas, North and Middle
Bihar, the North-East Indian region and the Rann of Kutch fall in this zone

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 ¸ The IS code assigns zone factor of 0.36 for Zone 5, Structural designers use this
factor for earthquake resistant design of structures in Zone 5
Zone 4
¸ This zone is called the High Damage Risk Zone and covers areas liable to MSK
VIII
¸ The Indo-Gangetic basin and the capital of the country Delhi, Jammu and
Kashmir fall in Zone 4
¸ In Maharashtra, the Patan area (Koyananager),In Bihar the northern part of the
state like- Raksaul, Near the border of India and Nepal, is also in zone no-4
¸ The IS code assigns zone factor of 0.24 for Zone 4

Zone 3
¸ The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, parts of Kashmir, Western Himalayas fall
under this zone
¸ This zone is classified as Moderate Damage Risk Zone which is liable to MSK
VII. and also 7.8
¸ The IS code assigns zone factor of 0.16 for Zone 3

Zone 2
¸ This region is liable to MSK VI or less and is classified as the Low Damage Risk
Zone.
¸ IS code assigns zone factor of 0.10
Zone 1
¸ Since the current division of India into earthquake hazard zones does not use
Zone 1
¸ No area of India is classed as Zone 1

MEASUREMENT OF EARTHQUAKES

INSTRUMENTS USED TO MEASURE EARTHQUAKE

Seismograph

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 ∑ The instrument that measures earthquake
shaking, a seismograph, has three
components – the sensor, the recorder and
the timer.
∑ The principle on which it works is simple
and is explicitly reflected in the early
seismograph (Figure 3) – a pen attached at
the tip of an oscillating simple pendulum (a
mass hung by a string from a support)
marks on a chart paper that is held on a
drum rotating at a constant speed.
∑ A magnet around the string provides required damping to control the
amplitude of oscillations.
∑ The pendulum mass, string, magnet and support together constitute the sensor;
the drum, pen and chart paper constitutes the recorder; and the motor that
rotates the drum at constant speed forms the timer.

Direction

∑ One such instrument is required in each of the two orthogonal horizontal

directions. Of course, for measuring vertical oscillations, the string pendulum
(Figure 3) is replaced with a spring pendulum oscillating about a fulcrum.
∑ Some instruments do not have a timer device (i.e., the drum holding the chart
paper does not rotate). Such instruments provide only the maximum extent (or
scope) of motion during the earthquake; for this reason they are called
seismoscopes.
∑ The analogy instruments have evolved over time, but today, digital instruments
using modern computer technology are more commonly used. The digital
instrument records the ground motion on the memory of the microprocessor that
is in-built in the instrument.

Accelerograph

An accelerograph can be referred to as a strong motion seismograph, or simply

an earthquake accelerometer. They are usually constructed as a self-contained box,
more commonly now being connected directly to the Internet.
Accelerographs are useful for when the earthquake ground motion is so strong that it
causes the more sensitive seismometers to go off-scale. There is an entire science of
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strong ground motion that is dedicated to placing accelerographs in the vicinity of
major faults. The type of information gathered (such as rupture velocity) would not be
possible with the standard seismometers. They record peak ground acceleration (PGA),
velocity (PGV), ground displacement (PGD) and spectral intensity (SI). Within the
accelerograph, there is an arrangement of 3 accelerometer sensing heads. These are
usually micro-machined chips that are sensitive to one direction. Thus constructed, the
accelerometer can measure full motion of the device in three dimensions. Unlike the
continually recording seismometer, accelerometers nearly always work in a triggered
mode. That means a level of acceleration must be set which starts the recording process.
This makes maintenance much more difficult without a direct Internet connection (or
some other means of communication). Many trips have been made to accelerometers
after a large earthquake, only to find that the memory was filled with extraneous noise,
or the instrument was malfunctioning. Accelerometers are used to monitor structures
for earthquake response. Sometimes, with the data, a response spectrum is computed.
Other analysis is used to improve building design, or to help locate important
structures in safer areas.

MEASUREMENT OF EARTHQUAKE
Earthquakes are measured with two kinds of seismic scales: scales of the magnitude of
the energy released by the rupture, and scales of the intensity of the resulting ground
shaking at a given location.

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The severity of an earthquake is described by both magnitude and intensity. These two
frequently confused terms refer to different, but related, expressions. Magnitude, usually
expressed as an Arabic numeral characterizes the size of an earthquake by measuring
indirectly the energy released. By contrast, intensity indicates the local effects and
potential for damage produced by an earthquake on the Earth's surface as it affects
humans, animals, structures, and natural objects such as bodies of water. Intensities are
usually expressed in Roman numerals, and represent the severity of the shaking
resulting from an earthquake. Ideally, any given earthquake can be described by only
one magnitude, but many intensities since the earthquake effects vary with circumstances
such as distance from the epicenter and local soil conditions. In practice, the same
earthquake might have magnitude estimates typically differing by few tenths of a unit,
depending on which magnitude scale is used and which data are included in the
analysis.

Magnitude / Intensity Comparison

Intensity: The severity of earthquake shaking is assessed using a descriptive scale –
the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

Magnitude: Earthquake size is a quantitative measure of the size of the earthquake at its
source. The Richter Magnitude Scale measures the amount of seismic energy released
by an earthquake.

When an earthquake occurs, its magnitude can be given a single numerical value on
the Richter Magnitude Scale. However the intensity is variable over the area affected by
the earthquake, with high intensities near the epicentre and lower values further away.
These are allocated a value depending on the effects of the shaking according to
the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

Magnitude:

Magnitude is a quantitative measure of the actual size of the earthquake. Professor

Charles Richter noticed that (a) at the same distance, seismograms (records of
earthquake ground vibration) of larger earthquakes have bigger wave amplitude than
those of smaller earthquakes; and (b) for a given earthquake, seismograms at farther
distances have smaller wave amplitude than those at close distances. These prompted
him to propose the now commonly used magnitude scale, the Richter Scale. It is
obtained from the seismograms and accounts for the dependence of waveform
amplitude on epicentral distance. This scale is also called Local Magnitude scale. There

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are other magnitude scales, like the Body Wave Magnitude, Surface Wave Magnitude
and Wave Energy Magnitude. These numerical magnitude scales have no upper and
lower limits; the magnitude of a very small earthquake can be zero or even negative.
An increase in magnitude (M) 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 31 times that released in a M6.7 earthquake, and is about 1000 times
that released in a M5.7 earthquake. Most of the energy released goes into heal and
fracturing the rocks, and only a small fraction of it (fortunately) goes into the seismic
waves that travel to large distances causing shaking of the ground en-route and hence
damage to structures. (Did you know? The energy released by a M6.3 earthquake is
equivalent to that released by the 1945 Atom Bomb dropped on Hiroshima!!)

Intensity:

Intensity is a qualitative measure of the actual shaking at a location during an

earthquake, and is assigned as Roman Capital Numerals. There are manv intensity
scales. Two commonly used ones are the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MM!) Scale and
the MSK Scale. Both scales are quite similar and range from I (least perceptive) to XII
(most severe). The intensity scales are based on three features of shaking - perception by
people and animals, performance of buildings, and changes to natural surroundings.
The distribution of intensity at different places during an earthquake is shown
graphically using isoseismals, lines joining places with equal seismic intensity

Richter magnitude scale

The Richter magnitude scale (also Richter scale) assigns a magnitude number to
quantify the size of an earthquake. The Richter scale, developed in the 1930s, is a base-
10 logarithmic scale, which defines magnitude as the logarithm of the ratio of
the amplitude of the seismic waves to arbitrary, minor amplitude.
As measured with a seismometer, an earthquake that registers 5.0 on the Richter scale
has a shaking amplitude 10 times greater than an earthquake that registered 4.0 at the
same distance, and thus corresponds to a release of energy 31.6 times that released by
the lesser earthquake.[1] The Richter scale built on the previous, more subjective Mercalli
scale by offering a quantifiable measure of an earthquake's size.

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In the United States, the Richter scale was succeeded in the 1970s by the moment
magnitude scale. The moment magnitude scale is now the scale used by the United
States Geological Survey to estimate magnitudes for all modern large earthquakes
The Richter magnitude of an earthquake is determined from the logarithm of
the amplitude of waves recorded by seismographs (adjustments are included to
compensate for the variation in the distance between the various seismographs and
the epicenter of the earthquake). The original formula is:

where A is the maximum excursion of the Wood-Anderson seismograph, the

empirical function A0 depends only on the epicentral distance of the station,δ . In
practice, readings from all observing stations are averaged after adjustment with
station-specific corrections to obtain the ML value.
Because of the logarithmic basis of the scale, each whole number increase in
magnitude represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude; in terms of energy,
each whole number increase corresponds to an increase of about 31.6 times the
amount of energy released, and each increase of 0.2 corresponds to a doubling of the
energy released.
Events with magnitudes greater than 4.5 are strong enough to be recorded by a
seismograph anywhere in the world, so long as its sensors are not located in the
earthquake's shadow.

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Mercalli intensity scale
The Mercalli intensity scale is a seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of
an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake. The Mercalli scale quantifies the
effects of an earthquake on the Earth's surface, humans, objects of nature, and man-
made structures on a scale from I (not felt) to XII (total destruction). Values depend
upon the distance from the earthquake, with the highest intensities being around
the epicentral area. Data gathered from people who have experienced the quake are
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used to determine an intensity value for their location. The Italian volcanologist
Giuseppe Mercalli revised the widely used simple ten-degree Rossi–Forel scale between
1884 and 1906, creating the Mercalli Intensity scale which is still used nowadays.
In 1902, the ten-degree Mercalli scale was expanded to twelve degrees by Italian
physicist Adolfo Cancani. It was later completely re-written by the German
geophysicist August Heinrich Sieberg and became known as the Mercalli–Cancani–
Sieberg (MCS) scale.
The Mercalli–Cancani–Sieberg scale was later modified and published in English
by Harry O. Wood and Frank Neumann in 1931 as the Mercalli–Wood–
Neumann (MWN) scale. It was later improved by Charles Richter, the father of
the Richter magnitude scale.
The scale is known today as the Modified Mercalli scale (MM) or Modified Mercalli
Intensity scale (MMI).

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