Name of the Experiment :

To locate the Epicenter of an

earthquake and determine its Richter
magnitude and total released energy.
Contents :

Definition of Earthquake .
Definition and types of seismic wave .
Determination of Epicenter.
Measuring the S-P time interval.
Finding the Epicenter on a Map.
Magnitude of an Earthquake.
Total released energy.
Earthquake :
Definition : Earthquake is the shaking, rolling or sudden shock
of the earth´s surface resulting from sudden release of energy
in the earth.This sudden release of energy causes the seismic
waves that make the ground shake.
 Seismic
Wave
Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the Earth's layers,
and are a result of earthquakes.
 P-waves
Primary waves (P-waves) are compressional
waves that are longitudinal in nature. P
waves travel faster than other waves
through the earth.

S-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 P-wave.
 Epicenter

Epicenter is the point on the Earth's surface

that is directly above the focus (the point of
origin) of an earthquake. The epicenter is
usually the location where the greatest
damage associated with an earthquake
occurs.
LOCATING THE EPICENTER OF AN EARTHQUAKE
In order to locate the epicenter of an earthquake, we have to follow these steps:

1.We have to calculate the time interval between the arrival of the P and S waves (the S-P
interval) on the seismograms from at least three different stations.

2.Then we get the epicentral distance by using the graph with respect to the S-P time
interval.

3.We have to draw three circles on the map whose centers are the station and radious are
equal to the epicentral distance for each stations.

4These circles intersect at a point which is the epicenter.

 Magnitude of an Earthquake :

We can measure the magnitude of an earthquake mathematically by,

M=log(A)+σ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (01)

Where, M is the Richter magnitude of an Earthquake.

A is the maximum amplitude of the S-wave.
σ is the distance correction for magnitude.
Table of distance corrections for magnitude, (in part) from Richter (1958)
Determination of Magnitude using Richter
Nomogram
 Step-1: Mark the Epicenter distance on the
Richter Nomogram distance scale.

 Step-2: Mark the maximum amplitude of

the seismic wave on the Richter Nomogram
amplitude scale.

 Step-3: Draw the line connecting the

Epicenter distance point and seismic wave
amplitude point on the Richter Nomogram
and read off the magnitude.
Richter Nomogram
 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake data

Akita, Japan station’s seismograph Pusan, Japan station’s seismograph

56s
71s
Tokyo, Japan station’s seismograph

44s
EPICENTRAL DISTANCE DETERMINATION

AKITA

PUSAN

TOKYO

Epicentral distance determination graph from S-P time interval

 Finding the Epicenter on Map for
table-01

Table-01: Data for determining the epicenter

location and magnitude from the Earthquake data
  S-P Distance Seismic
Time interval from wave Epicenter
Station Kobe,
(s) Epicenter maximum
Japan
(Km) Amplitude
695 km

Akita, 71 695 35
Japan 545 km

Pusan, 56 545 90
425 km
Japan

Tokyo, 44 425 170

Japan
Richter magnitude of Kobe, Japan Earthquake from Richter
Nomogram: Table-01: Data for determining the
epicenter location and magnitude
from the Earthquake data.

  S-P Distance Seismic

Time from wave
Station
interval (s) Epicente maximu
r (Km) m
Amplitud
e
Akita, 71 695 35
Japan
Pusan, 56 545 90
Richter
Japan
magnitude=6.8 Tokyo, 44 425 170
Japan
Calculation of the magnitude using
formula:
The magnitude of earthquake

In Akita, Japan
M1=log(A1)+σ1 A1 = 35mm
= log(35)+4.9 σ1 = 4.9
= 6.44
In Pusan, Japan A2 = 90mm
M2=log(A2)+σ2 σ2 = 4.8
= log(90)+4.8
= 6.75
In Tokyo, Japan
M3=log(A3)+σ3 A3 = 170mm
= log(170)+4.5 σ3 = 4.5
= 6.73
Average magnitude of earthquake=6.64
Calculation of the released energy

Total amount of released energy from Earthquake

logES = 11.8+1.5M
=
11.8+1.5х6.8
= 22
So, ES = 1022 erg
= 1015 j
 Conclusio
n
 Epicenter located in Kobe, Japan.

 Magnitude of Earthquake is 6.8 measured from Richter

Nomogram.

 From mathematical expression, we get the magnitude of

Earthquake 6.64.

 Total amount of released energy from this Earthquake is1015

J.
Thanks To All