ELEMENTS OF SEISMOLOGY

Seismology - the study of

earthquake and earthquake wave.
 ORIGIN OF AN EARTHQUAKE

An earthquake originates at a considerable

depth below the surface of the earth at a point
on the fault plane where the stress that
produces the slippage is a maximum. This
point is called the focus or hypocenter. While
the point on the earth’s surface directly above
it is called the epicenter.
Faults- fracture on the earth’s crust or
breaks in rocks along which there is
displacement of rocks on one side
relative to the other.
Focus/ Hypocenter- the point on a fault
at which the first movement or break
occurs during an earthquake.
 TYPES OF EARTHQUAKE

1.Tectonic Earthquakes- are caused by the

sudden slippage along a fault or line of
dislocation in the outer part of the earth.

2. Volcanic earthquakes- are associated with

volcanic eruption or subterranean movement
of magma.
 TYPES OF EARTHQUAKES AS TO FOCAL
DEPTH:

Shallow earthquakes- earthquakes with focal

depths less than 70km. Majority of the
earthquakes are of shallow origin.

Intermediate earthquakes- earthquakes with

focal depths from 70km- 300km.

Deep earthquakes- earthquake with focal

depths greater than 300 km (depths ranging
300-700 km).
 ARTIFICIALLY INDUCED EARTHQUAKES
(HUMAN ACTIVITY):

collapse of caverns or mine workings

injection of fluids into deep wells
detonation of large underground nuclear
explosions
excavations of mines
quarry blasting
filling of large reservoirs
 THEORIES RELATED TO EARTHQUAKES

1. Theory of Plate Tectonics.

According to this theory, the earth’s outer
shell consists of huge plates up to 60 miles
in thickness that float on a partially plastic
layer of the upper mantle (asthenosphere).
These plates are assumed to move laterally
and grind together of their margins, thus
producing earthquake faults.
 THEORIES RELATED TO EARTHQUAKES

1. Theory of Plate Tectonics.

The theory states that Earth's outermost
layer, the lithosphere, is broken into 7
large, rigid pieces called plates: the African,
North American, South American, Eurasian,
Australian, Antarctic, and Pacific plates.
Several minor plates ( about 14) also exist,
including the Arabian, Nazca, and
Philippines plates.
THEORIES RELATED TO EARTHQUAKES
 THEORIES RELATED TO EARTHQUAKES

2. Continental Drift Theory.

The theory, first advanced by Alfred
Wegener, that the earth's continents were
originally one land mass called Pangaea.
About 200 million years ago Pangaea
split off and the pieces migrated (drifted)
to form the present-day continents. The
predecessor of plate tectonics.
 THEORIES RELATED TO EARTHQUAKES

3. Elastic Rebound Theory.

When friction between rocks on either side of a
fault is such as to prevent the rocks from slipping
easily, or when the rock under stress is not already
fractured, some elastic deformation occurs before
failure. When the stress at last exceeds the rupture
strength of the rock (or friction between rocks
along an existing fault), sudden movement occurs
along the fault: an earthquake. The stressed rocks,
released by the rupture, snap back elastically to
their previous dimensions, a phenomenon known
as elastic rebound.
 THEORIES RELATED TO EARTHQUAKES

3. Elastic Rebound Theory.

As formulated by the American geologists Harry
Fielding Reid, the theory explains that a
tectonic earthquake occurs when stresses in
rock masses have accumulated to a point
where they exceed the strength of the rocks,
leading to rapid fracture. These rock fractures
usually tend in the same direction and may
extend over many kilometers along the zone of
weakness.
 TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT

Divergence- A divergent plate

movement occurs when two plates
move away from each other. Magma
from the mantle underneath the crust
to rise up the surface to cool and
solidify at the plate boundary.
TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT
 TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT

Convergence- When two plates move

towards each other, they would collide.
This is called a convergent plate
movement.  
TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT
 TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT

Lateral Slipping - When two plates move

sideways against each other (at a transform
plate boundary), there is a tremendous
amount of friction which makes the
movement jerky.
TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT
  
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTERPLATE,
INTRAPLATE AND MEGATHRUST
EARTHQUAKE
Interplate Earthquake- is an earthquake that
occurs at the boundary between two tectonic
plates.
Intraplate Earthquake- is an earthquake that
occurs in the interior of a tectonic plate,
 Megathrust Earthquake- occur at the
subduction zones at destructive plate
boundaries (convergent boundaries), where
one tectonic plate is forced (subducts) under
another.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SLIP-FAULT
DIRECTION

Two sides of a fault are called hangingwall

and footwall.

Strike-Slip Earthquake
This occur on an approximate vertical
fault plane as the rock on one side of the
fault slides horizontally past to other.
 TWO TYPES OF A STRIKE FAULT ARE:

Left lateral faults

Right lateral faults
 DIP- SLIP EARTHQUAKE

This occurs when the faults is at an

angle to the surface of the Earth and the
movement of the rock is up or down.
 TYPES OF DIP- SLIP EARTHQUAKE

Normal Fault- the hanging wall moves down

and the wall up; when the relative movement
is in an upward and downward direction on a
nearly vertical fault plane.
Reverse Fault- the reverse happen; the
hanging wall moves up and the foot wall
moves down.
 
Thrust Fault- this is a special category of the
reverse fault. The fault plane lies at a low
angle to the Earth’s surface.
Blind Thrust-the thrust fault that does not
extend all the way the Earth’s surface.
 OBLIQUE-SLIP EARTHQUAKE

 Many earthquake are caused by the

movement of faults that have components of
both dip-slip and strike slip.