EarthQuake Distribution

Earthquakes take place or have taken place in all parts of the world. Frequent activity occurs along certain belts. 80% of all seismic energy is generated from a belt that is found at the border of the Pacific Ocean. A great deal of volcanoes are also found there, and volcanoes set off many earthquakes. Japan, the Philippine Islands, New Guinea, and New Zealand are all part of the Pacific belt. A second seismic belt produces 15% of seismic activity. It goes through southern Asia to the region of the Mediterranean Sea. The final 5% of seismic energy comes from parts of the Arctic, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Antarctica and Australia experience the least amount of earthquake activity then any other areas of the world.

Earthquake Magnitude and Energy

The strength of an earthquake can be measured by a device called a seismograph. When an earthquake occurs this device converts the wave energy into a standard unit of measurement like the Richter scale. In the Richter scale, units of measurement are referred to as magnitudes. The Richter scale is logarithmic. Thus, each unit increase in magnitude represents 10 times more energy released. Table 1 describes the relationship between Richter scale magnitude and energy released. The following equation can be used to approximate the amount of energy released from an earthquake in joules when Richter magnitude (M) is known seismometry (s z-m m -tr ) The scientific study and recording of earthquakes. Earthquake Mechanism

Most earthquakes originate from the sudden movements of the earth's tectonic plates , close to the earth's surface, along zones of pre-existing weakness called faults. The animation on this page shows the main concepts that define a seismic event, as well as some of the consequent effects. The rock fracturing determines the sudden release of elastic energy stored before the movement and producing seismic waves that radiate outwards around the fault. During travel, waves lose their energy (attenuation) so much that, for long distances, earthquake arrival can be detected and recorded only by special instruments called seismograph.

The destructive effects of an earthquake on the ground surface are not always related to the distance from the seismic source (hypocentre). Different earth materials respond differently to seismic shaking; likewise different geological and geomorphological conditions may influence the level of shaking inducing local amplification. An appropriate choice of building design and construction method can considerably mitigate the effects of the seismic shaking. As shown in the elastic response spectrum method of analysis, the base shear induced in a single portal frame is: Vb= mSa=WSa/g Where W is the weight of the mass and Sa is pseudo acceleration response spectrum ordinate corresponding to the natural period and damping of the system. If the system is designed for a base shear much lower thanVb forexample,Vb=R,where Rcould be 34, then the system will be deformed beyond the limit of elastic behavior for the design earthquake whose spectrum is used to obtain the value of Sa=g. Under this earthquake,the system will vibrate in a different way than it would have vibrated if it were designed for Vb . The nature of vibration will depend upon the material behavior represented by its force deformation characteristicsundercyclicloading.ThisforcedeformationbehaviorisdiscussedinSection6.2. Forsuch non-linear force-deformation behavior of the materials, the equation of motion is written in incremental form and solved for each time step assuming the stiffness of the system to remain the same within the increment, as explained previously. In order to explain the concept of ductility and other related parameters, two SDOF systems, one with elasto-plastic material behavior and the other with a corresponding elastic (linear) material behavior are considered as shown in Figure 6.23. As shown in the elastic response spectrum method of analysis, the base shear induced in a single portal frame is: V b mS a WS a

g 6:34 whereWistheweightofthemassandS a ispseudoaccelerationresponsespectrumordinatecorresponding tothenaturalperiodanddampingofthesystem.Ifthesystemisdesignedforabaseshearmuchlowe rthan V b ,forexample,V b =R,whereRcouldbe34,thenthesystemwillbedeformedbeyondthelimitofelastic behavior for the design earthquake whose spectrum is used to obtain the value of S a =g. Under this earthquake,thesystemwillvibrateinadifferentwaythanitwouldhavevibratedifitweredesigned forV b . The nature of vibration will depend upon the material behavior represented by its force deformation characteristicsundercyclicloading.ThisforcedeformationbehaviorisdiscussedinSection6.2. Forsuch non-linear force-deformation behavior of the materials, the equation of motion is written in incremental form and solved for each time step assuming the stiffness of the system to remain the same within the increment, as explained previously. In order to explain the concept of ductility and other related parameters, two SDOF systems, one with elasto-plastic material behavior and the other with a corresponding elastic (linear) material behavior are considered as shown in Figure 6.5 Concepts of Ductility and Inelastic Response Spectrum As shown in the elastic response spectrum method of analysis, the base shear induced in a single portal frame is: V b mS a WS a g 6:34 whereWistheweightofthemassandS

a ispseudoaccelerationresponsespectrumordinatecorresponding tothenaturalperiodanddampingofthesystem.Ifthesystemisdesignedforabaseshearmuchlowe rthan V b ,forexample,V b =R,whereRcouldbe34,thenthesystemwillbedeformedbeyondthelimitofelastic behavior for the design earthquake whose spectrum is used to obtain the value of S a =g. Under this earthquake,thesystemwillvibrateinadifferentwaythanitwouldhavevibratedifitweredesigned forV b . The nature of vibration will depend upon the material behavior represented by its force deformation characteristicsundercyclicloading.ThisforcedeformationbehaviorisdiscussedinSection6.2. Forsuch non-linear force-deformation behavior of the materials, the equation of motion is written in incremental form and solved for each time step assuming the stiffness of the system to remain the same within the increment, as explained previously. In order to explain the concept of ductility and other related parameters, two SDOF systems, one with elasto-plastic material behavior and the other with a corresponding elastic (linear) material behavior are considered as shown in Figure 6.23.