TYPES OF EARTHQUAKES

1) Tectonic Earthquake
2) Volcanic Earthquake
3) Collapse Earthquake
4) Explosion Earthquake

CLASSIFICATION DISTANCE
1) Teleseismic Earthquake > 1000 km
2) Regional Earthquake > 500 km
3) Local Earthquake < 500 km
 Magnitude and Intensity
Intensity Magnitude
How Strong Earthquake Feels Related to Energy Release.
to Observer
 Qualitative assessment of the  Quantitative measurement of
kinds of damage done by an the amount of energy released
earthquake by an earthquake by modern
seismograph.
 Depends on distance to
earthquake & strength of  Depends on the size of the
earthquake fault that breaks

 Determined from the

intensity of shaking and  Determined from Seismic
damage from the earthquake Records
 Intensity Scale
 The different intensity scale are:
Rossi-Forel (RF) scale (1880s)-intensities ranges from I-IX
Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) Scale (1931)-intensities
ranges from I-XII
Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA)

 Earthquake intensities are usually obtained from interviews of observers after

the event and prepare different maps like Isoseismal map, epicentral intensity
map, etc.
 Intensity
Depends on:
Distance to Epicenter
Geology
Type of Building
Observer!
Varies from Place to Place
 EARTHQUAKE INTENSITY

 Rossi-Forel Intensity Scale (I – X)

 Modified Mercalli (MM) Intensity Scale

(1956 version), (I – XII)

 Japanese Metrological Agency Scale (JMA) (0-7)

Isoseismals
Isoseismals are the curved lines joining the localities of same intensity.
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 Earthquake Magnitude

• Earthquake magnitude scales originated

because of

– the desire for an objective measure of

earthquake size

– Technological advances -> seismometers

 Earthquake Magnitudes
• In the 1930’s, Wadati in Japan and Richter
in California noticed that although the peak
amplitudes on seismograms from different
events differed, the peak amplitudes
decreased with distance in a similar manner
for different quakes.
 EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE

Dimensionless number
measured various ways,
including

ML local magnitude
mb body wave magnitude
Ms surface wave magnitude
Mw moment magnitude

Easy to measure

Empirical - except for Mw, no

direct tie to physics of faulting

Since log10 scale is used,

magnitude can be negative for
very small displacements
 Earthquake Magnitude

1. ML - Local (Richter) magnitude

2. MS - Surface wave magnitude

3. MB- Body wave magnitude

4. MW - Seismic Moment magnitude

 Magnitude scales

Magnitude Symbol Wave

Local (Richter) ML P, S wave and surface
wave

Body-Wave mb P wave

Surface-Wave Ms Rayleigh wave

Moment Mw Rupture Area, Slip

 Seismogram Peak Amplitude

The peak amplitude is the size of the largest

deflection from the zero line.
Richter’s Observations
 Richter’s Local Magnitude
• Richter used these observations to construct the
first magnitude scale, ML (Richter’s Local
Magnitude for Southern California).

• He based his formula for calculating the

magnitude on the basis of logarithmic scale.
 Logarithmic Scales

In a logarithmic scale such as magnitude:

A change in one magnitude unit means a change of a

factor of 10 in the amplitude of motion that defines the
magnitude.
 How Richter magnitude (ML) was
measured

ML = log10 of the maximum ground motion (in millimeters)

recorded on a Wood-Anderson short-period seismometer 100
km from the earthquake
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• The concept of earthquake magnitude was introduced by
Charles Richter in 1935 for southern California earthquakes

• He originally defined earthquake magnitude as the logarithm

(to the base 10) of maximum amplitude measured in microns
on the record of a standard torsion seismograph with a
pendulum period of 0.8s, damping factor 0.8, located at a
distance of 100km from the epicenter

• The standard instrument, known after its designer as the

Wood-Anderson seismometer, consists of a small copper
cylinder attached to a vertical metal fiber. The restoring force
is supplied by tension in the fiber

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• Wood-Anderson
torsion
seismometer

• The instrument is
sensitive to
horizontal motions

• The magnitude
scale devised by
Richter is now
referred to as the
local magnitude ML

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 Richter’s Magnitude Scale

• Defined for specific attenuation conditions valid for southern

California
• Only valid for one specific type of seismometer (Wood-
Anderson seismometer)
• Can be used elsewhere if local attenuation correction is used
• Not often used now, although it is a measure of ground shaking
at frequencies of engineering interest
He assumed a reference motion at a reference distance. To compute the
magnitude at different distances, he calibrated the attenuation function
 Richter fixed the scale assuming that a
Ml=Log Amax -Log A0 ML=3 earthquake produces 1mm of
maximum amplitude on a Wood-Anderson
seismometer at 100 km

-logA0 changes from region to region. The calibration of a local magnitude scale for
a given region implies the determination of the empirical attenuation correction for
that region (and the magnitude station corrections)
The W-A seismometers are not still used. The W-A recording is computed numerically
(by convolving the ground displacement with the W-A transfer function)
 Richter Scale
It is a measure of the amplitude of ground vibration using a
seismometer.
Amplitude scale is logarithmic (10-fold increase for every whole
number increase)
With the seismometer a standard distance of 100 km away from the
epicenter, one gets:

Amplitude
(mm) Magnitude

1 3
10 4
100 5
1000 6
10000 7
 Richter Scale

Drawbacks:
Based on Antiquated Wood-Anderson Seismographs
Measurement Past Magnitude 7.0 ineffective –
requires further estimations
 Local Magnitude of Earthquake, ML
 Amplitude of the largest wave produced by an event is corrected for distance
and assigned a value on an open-ended logarithmic scale
 The equation for Richter Magnitude is:
ML = log10A(mm) + (Distance correction factor)

Here, A is the amplitude, in millimeters, measured directly from the

photographic paper record of the Wood-Anderson seismometer, a special type of
instrument. The distance factor comes from a table given by Richter (1958).

• The effective limit of measurement for local magnitude is about ML = 6.8

(before seismometer breaks).
 Richter fixed the scale assuming that a
ML=Log Amax -Log A0 ML=3 earthquake produces 1mm of
maximum amplitude on a Wood-Anderson
seismometer at 100 km

-logA0 changes from region to region.

Distance factor (at100km, -logA0=3.0, at 200km, -logA0=3.5 & so on)
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 Richter’s Local Magnitude, ML

ML = log10A +log10A0(DL)

Where A0 is an empirical function depending only on the distance

of the station from the epicenter, DL.
Two pieces of information used to calculate size of Earthquake:
a) Deflection of seismometer (Amplitude),
b) distance from source (based on P & S wave arrivals)
 Richter’s Local Magnitude, ML

The equation behind this

nomogram, used by Richter in
Southern California, is:

ML = log10A(mm) +3
log10[8 Dt (sec)]-2.93

The S-P time, in seconds, makes Dt.

ML=LOG10(23)+3*LOG10(8*24)
-2.93=5.281631522
• In practice, the scale requires different calibration curves
for regions such as stable continental interiors, as
compared to the southern California region for which the
scale was originally defined

• This is because the attenuation of seismic waves with

distance can be different for different geological provinces

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First devised by Charles Richter 1n 1935 for South California,
“Richter Scale” or “local magnitude

ML = log10A(mm) +3 log10[8 Dt (sec)]-2.93

ML = log10A(mm) +2.76 log10[8 Dt (sec)]-2.48
Valid for Wood-Anderson Seismograph (resonance
frequency=0.8HZ) and used S-wave amplitude

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• Richter magnitudes in their original form are no longer used
because they only apply to southern California and the Wood-
Anderson seismograph is now rarely used for recording the
seismic wavefield

• However, local magnitudes are sometimes still reported

because many building have resonant frequencies near 1Hz,
which is close to that of a Wood-Anderson seismograph.
Therefore, ML is often a good indicator of the potential for
structural damage

• A number of different global and local magnitude scales have

been produced

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 Radiated Seismic Energy = Es
• Conservation of Energy
• Total energy before the earthquake = Total
energy after the earthquake = Es + crushing of
rocks + heat

• Es = radiated seismic energy

 Radiated Seismic Energy = Es
• Es = Mo (1.6 x 10-5)
• Where Es is measured in ergs and Mo in dyne-cm

Note:
Compared 1 kilowatt hour =
Mw Es (ergs) Note to Mw=5 3.6 x 1013 ergs
5 2.00E+19 1 Electricity
6 6.31E+20 32 consumption in
US: typical house
7 2.00E+22 1000 15 KW hours
one day supply
of energy for
8 6.31E+23 U.S. 31623
 Relationship between Richter Scale magnitude and
energy released
Magnitude in Energy Released
Comment
Richter Scale in Joules
2.0 6.3 x 10 7 Smallest earthquake detectable by people.
5.0 2.0 x 10 12 Energy released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
6.3 x 1013
About 120 shallow earthquakes of this magnitude
6.0 - 6.9 to occur each year.
1.4 x 1015
6.7 7.1 x 1014 Northridge, California earthquake 1994.
7.0 2.0 x 1015 Major earthquake.
Turkey earthquake August 17, 1999. More than
7.4 7.9 x 1015 12,000 people killed.
Deadliest earthquake this century. Tangshan,
7.6 1.6 x 1016 China, 1976. About 250,000 people died.
8.3 1.8 x 1017 San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
Most powerful earthquake recorded in the last
8.6 5.0 x 1017 100 years. Southern Chile 1960. Claimed 5,700
lives.
Equivalency between magnitude and energy
 Modern Seismic Magnitudes
• Today seismologists use different seismic waves to compute
magnitudes

• These waves generally have lower frequencies than those used by

Richter

• These waves are generally recorded at distances of 1000s of

kilometers instead of the 100s of kilometers for the Richter scale
(this is important because most earthquakes occur in remote
places, such as under the oceans, without instruments within 100s
of kilometers)
 Teleseismic MS and mb
• Two commonly used modern magnitude
scales are:
• MS, Surface-wave magnitude (Rayleigh Wave)
• mb, Body-wave magnitude (P-wave)
Other Earthquake magnitude scales

44
The plot below shows an estimate of the Q-factor for body
wave magnitude mb derived from earthquake in the tonga
region

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Other Earthquake magnitude scales: mb
• Measurements of mb depend on the seismometer used and
the portion of the wave train measured

• Common US practice is to use the first 5seconds of the

record and periods less than 3 seconds (usually about
1second), on instruments with a peak response of about
1second

• Mb is usually measured out to a distance of 100 degrees,

beyond which core diffraction has a complicated effect on
the amplitude

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 Body Wave Magnitude, mB
 For deep focus earthquakes, reliable measurement of amplitude of
surface waves is difficult.

 Amplitudes of P-waves are not strongly affected by focal depth.

 Gutenberg (1945) developed a magnitude scale based on the
amplitude of the first few cycles of P- waves, which is useful for
measuring the size of deep earthquakes.
Body wave magnitude, MB = log10A – log10T +0.01 D + 5.9
A = Amplitude of P-waves in micrometers

T = Period of P wave

D = Distance of seismograph from the epicenter, in degrees.

Other Earthquake magnitude scales: ms

The surface wave magnitude, Ms is measured using the

largest amplitude (zero to peak) of the arriving surface
waves. Gutenberg and Richter first devised a scale for tele
seismic surface waves in 1936

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 Other Earthquake magnitude scales
Other measures of earthquake size:

Body wave scale (mb):

Uses amplitudes of P waves with 1 to 10 second periods

Surface wave scale (Ms):

Uses amplitude of Rayleigh waves with 18-22 second periods

All magnitude scales are not equivalent

Larger earthquake radiate more energy at longer periods which

are not measured by Richter scale or body wave scale, so large or
distant earthquake magnitudes are underestimated

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Other Earthquake magnitude scales

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 Surface Wave Magnitude, MS
Richter’s local magnitude does not distinguish between different
types of waves.

At large distances from epicenter, ground motion is dominated by

surface waves.

Gutenberg and Richter (1936) developed a magnitude scale based on

the amplitude of Rayleigh waves.

Surface wave magnitude Ms = log10A + 1.66 log10D +2

A = Maximum ground displacement in micrometers

D = Distance of seismograph from the epicenter, in degrees.

Surface wave magnitude is used for shallow earthquakes

Surface Wave Magnitude, MS

(Ms=LOG10(672)+1.656*LOG10(46)+1.818=7.4)
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As measures of earthquake size, magnitudes have two major
advantages
First, they are directly measured from seismographs without
sophisticated signal processing
Second, the estimates they yield are intuitively meaningful
magnitude 5 is moderate and 6 is strong etc.

However, magnitudes also have several related limitations

First, they are totally empirical, and thus have no direct
connection to the physics of the earthquake
The equations used are not even dimensionally correct (A/T)
is not the dimensionally correct. It should be dimensionless.
Not only, the logarithm of this (A/T) is still taken. It only valid
for empirical relation.
A second problem is with the consistency. Magnitude
estimates vary noticeably with azimuth, due partly to the
source radiation pattern.
An azimuth is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate
system 54
Source parameters and various magnitude scales for six earthquakes

Different magnitude scales also yield different values, and body

and surface wave magnitudes do not correctly reflect the size of
large earthquakes

Examine different magnitudes scales. What magnitudes saturate

for large earthquakes and what magnitude(s) is preferred, why?

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Ideally, we want the same value of magnitude for any one
earthquake from each scale we develop,
i.e., Ms=mb=ML=Mw

But, this does not always happen:

e.g.,
San Francisco 1906: Ms=8.2, Mw=7.8
Chile 1960: Ms=8.3 Mw=9.5

Due to empirical in nature, no account for radiation pattern,

fault dimensions and locations can vary along fault, etc.
Body wave magnitude saturate at 6.2 and surface wave
magnitudes at 8.3.

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Different magnitude scales reflect amplitude at different periods

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 Moment Magnitude - Mw
Moment-Magnitude Scale
Seismic Moment = Strength of Rock x Fault Area x Total amount
of Slip along Rupture
M0 =  A D
Moment Magnitude, Mw = 2/3 x [log10M0(dyne-cm) –16]
 Time taken to get moment magnitude
 Moment Magnitude - Mw

• Mw = (2/3)log10Mo – 10.7

• Mo = Seismic Moment
Mo = μAu
o μ = shear modulus (typically 30 x 109 N/m2 or
30 x 1010 dyne/cm2)
o A = area of fault rupture
o u =average displacement along fault
 Seismic - Moment Magnitude, MW

A Seismograph Measures Ground Motion at One Instant But --

 A Really Great Earthquake Lasts Minutes and Releases Energy
over Hundreds of Kilometers
 Moment magnitude scale based on seismic moment (Kanamori,
1977) and doesn’t depend upon ground shaking levels.
 It’s the only magnitude scale efficient for any size of earthquake.
Energy and Magnitude
 Seismic Energy
Both the magnitude and the seismic moment are related to the
amount of energy that is radiated by an earthquake.

Gutenberg and Richter (1956) developed a relationship between

magnitude and energy. Their relationship is:

Log ES = 11.8 + 1.5Ms

Energy ES in ergs from the surface wave magnitude Ms .
EARTHQUAKE ENERGY
log E = 12 + 1.8 ML
log E = 5.8 + 2.4 mb
log E = 11.4 + 1.5 Ms
 STATISTICS OF SOME EARTHQUAKES
NAME OF YEAR OF RICHTER MMI MAX
EARTQUAKE OCCURENCE MAGNITUD INTENSITY acceleration
E
Imperial Valley, 1940 6.7 – 7.1 X 0.33g
California
Kern county, 1952 7.7 XI 0.18g
California
Park field, 1966 5.5 VIII 0.5g
California
Konya, India 1967 6.25 – 7.5 VIII 0.63g

San fernando, 1971 6.6 VIII 1.20g

California
Olympia, 1949 7.1 VIII 0.31g
Washington
 Why is it called “moment”?

Radiation from a shear dislocation with slip S over area A

in material with rigidity μ is identical to that from a double
couple with strength μ UA (units stress*displacement*area,
but stress = force/area, so units = force*displacement = a
couple = work = energy)
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 Why use moment magnitude?

• It is the best single measure of overall earthquake size

• It does not saturate
• It can be estimated from geological observations
• It can be tied to plate motions and recurrence relations
Moment Magnitude is the Best
Measure of Earthquake Size

Quake Ms M
1906 San Francisco 8.3 7.8
1960 Chile 8.3 9.5
Moment
Physical units (dyne-cm)

1026: Northridge, 1994

1030: Sumatra, 2004

Big range!

No saturation:

bigger rupture 
bigger moment
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“the big one”
USGS - SUSAN HOUGH
 The Largest Earthquakes

M is the appropriate choice for comparing

the largest events, it does not saturate.

1960 Chile 9.5

2004 Sumatra 9.3
1964 Alaska 9.2
1952 Kamchatka 9.1
1965 Aleutians 9.0

(This pie chart needs to be revised to include the 2004 Sumatra

earthquake, but the chart serves to emphasize that 0.1 M units
corresponds to a factor of 1.4 increase in moment.)
Why Don’t Magnitude Scales Agree?

• Simplest Answer:
– Earthquakes are complicated physical phenomena
that are not well described by a single number.

– Can a thunderstorm be well described by one

number ? (No. It takes wind speed, rainfall,
lightning strikes, spatial area, etc.)
 Why Don’t Magnitude Scales Agree?
• More Complicated Answers:

• The distance correction for amplitudes depends on geology.

• Deep earthquakes do not generate large surface waves - MS is

biased low for deep earthquakes.

• Some earthquakes last longer than others, even though the

peak amplitude is the same.

• Variations in stress release along fault, for same moment.

 Why Don’t Magnitude Scales Agree?
• Most complicated reason:
– Magnitude scales saturate

– This means there is an upper limit to magnitude

no matter how “large” the earthquake is

– For instance Ms (surface wave magnitude)

seldom gets above 8.2-8.3
 Example: mb “Saturation”
F mb seldom gives
values above 6.7 - it
“saturates”.

F mb must be
measured in the first
5 seconds - that’s
the (old) rule.
 What Causes Saturation?
• The rupture process.
– Small earthquakes rupture small areas and are relatively
depleted in long-period signals.
– Large earthquakes rupture large areas and are rich in
long-period motions
 What Causes Saturation?

The relative size of the fault and the wavelength of the

motion used to determine the magnitude is a key part of
the explanation.
• Small fault compared to the wavelength: the magnitude
will be a good measure of overall earthquake size.
• Large fault compared to the wavelength: the
magnitude will be determined by radiation from only a
portion of the fault, and the magnitude will not be a
good measure of overall fault size

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 Are mb and Ms still useful?

• YES!
– Many (most) earthquakes are small enough that
saturation does not occur
– Empirical relations between energy release and
mb and Ms exist
– The ratio of mb to Ms can indicate whether a
given seismogram is from an earthquake or a
nuclear explosion (verification seismology)
 Magnitude Summary

• Magnitude is a measure of ground shaking amplitude.

• More than one magnitude scale is used to study
earthquakes.
• All magnitude scales have the same logarithmic form.
• Since different scales use different waves and different
period vibrations, they do not always give the same value .

Magnitude Symbol Wave Period

Local (Richter) ML S or Surface Wave* 0.8 s
Body-Wave mb P 1s
Surface-Wave Ms Rayleigh 20 s
Moment Mw, M Rupture Area, Slip 100’s-1000’s
Magnitude-frequency distribution

log N  bM

N = number of earthquakes in a specified period of time

with magnitudes greater than or equal to M

b is close to 1, which means that there are 10 times more

earthquakes with magnitude M-1 than magnitude M (e.g.,
if there is one M  8.5 earthquake somewhere in the world
every 7 years, we would expect 10 earthquakes with
M  7.5 , 100 with M  6.5 , etc, in that period of time).
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 Can Earthquakes be Predicted?

Earthquake Precursors
– changes in elevation or tilting of land surface,
fluctuations in groundwater levels, magnetic
field, electrical resistance of the ground
– seismic gaps
 Can Earthquakes be Predicted?

Earthquake Prediction Programs

– include laboratory and field studies of rocks before,
during, and after earthquakes
– monitor activity along major faults
– produce risk assessments
 Why largest earthquake occur in
subduction zone?

• Faults associated with subduction slabs can have widths of

100s of km on which strain can build up and eventually be
released seismically

• The larger fault dimensions give rise to greater slip, so the

combined effects of larger fault area and more slip cause
the largest earthquakes to occur at subduction zones.

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P-waves get there first…
If the Earth were
homogenous in
composition…
Wave speed depends on pressure and temperature (increase with
pressure, decrease with temperature)
But seismic velocities show great variety of structure

core

crust
mesosphere
aesthenosphere
Note, shear waves (s waves) can’t propagate in the liquid core
& big drop in p-wave velocity
S waves cannot
propagate
through the core,
leading to a
huge shadow
zone

S waves cannot propagate in a fluid (fluids cannot support shear stresses)

Shadow zones for P-waves exist
but less propagation through
the core
Seismic “phases” are named according to their paths

P – P wave only in the mantle

PP – P wave reflected off earths surface so there are two
P wave segments in the mantle
pP – P wave that travels upward from a deep earthquake,
reflects off the surface and then has a single segment
in the mantle
PKP – P wave that has two segments in the mantle
separated by a segment in the core
Ray path examples…
What do we know about the interior composition of the Earth?
What do we know about the interior composition of the Earth?
What do we know about the interior composition of the Earth?
How does seismology help?