24/4/2015

Earthquakes
 An earthquake is a vibration in the earth’s
crust caused by the sudden release of stored
energy in the rocks found along fault lines.
 Friction prevents plates from moving freely
as they are driven by convectional currents
in the mantle. Stress in the rocks builds up
along the fault. When the rocks can no
longer withstand the increasing stress, they
can suddenly slip many metres, causing
earthquakes. 1 2

Earthquakes
 An earthquake releases energy in the form
of seismic waves. Seismic waves radiate out
from a point of sudden energy release,
called the focus. The point on the earth’s
surface directly above the focus is the
epicentre. Most of the energy released by an
earthquake travels along the surface of the
earth, causing the ground to vibrate
violently.
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Earthquakes
 After an earthquake, the stress from the
ground within the earth’s crust may cause
many smaller earthquakes called
aftershocks to occur along the fault line. A
series of aftershocks may occur for several
months after the initial earthquake, with
some aftershocks being nearly as powerful
as the original earthquake.

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Locations of Earthquakes Locations of Earthquakes

 Earthquakes that occur near the Earth’s  Earthquakes occur mainly along plate
surface (i.e. shallow-focus earthquakes – boundaries. They tend to be most powerful
not deeper than 70 km from the Earth’s along convergent plate boundaries due to
surface) have greater impact as the seismic the higher stored energy as the two plates
energy reaches the surface quickly with locked against each other, before the
little loss of the energy. On the other hand, earthquake.
deep-focus earthquakes (between 70 – 700
km beneath the Earth’s surface) have less
impact as the seismic energy decays as it
travels to the surface. 7 8

Energy of Earthquakes
 The energy of a earthquake is described as
the magnitude of the earthquake. The
Richter Scale is used:
- Magnitude 3 or lower: almost
imperceptible or weak
- Magnitude 7 and more: large and can
cause serious damage over larger areas
 The largest earthquakes in historic times
Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2013
have been of magnitude slightly over 9.
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Energy of Earthquakes Energy of Earthquakes

 Thousands of earthquakes happen every  26/12/2004 – 9.1; off west coast of
day. North Sumatra  227, 898 deaths
 Some 80% of earthquakes occur along the
 3/11/2011 – 9.0; near the east coast
‘Ring of Fire’.
 On average, a magnitude 8 quake strikes of Honshu, Japan  20,896 deaths
somewhere every year.
 Some 10,000 people die in earthquakes
annually.
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Devastation to
Banda Aceh on the
island of Sumatra
as a result of the
tsunami caused by
the 2004 Indian
Ocean earthquake
(Credit:
DigitalGlobe)

Extent of the flooding across Banda Aceh after the 2004

Tsunami
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Tsunami Strikes
Sri Lanka: On Dec 26,
2004, tsunamis swept across
the Indian ocean, spawned by
a magnitude 9.0 earthquake
off the coast of Sumatra.
Aside from Indonesia, the
island nation of Sri Lanka
likely suffered the most
casualties, with the death toll
reported at 21,715 on
December 29th. DigitalGlobal
Quickbird satellite captured
an image of the devastation
around Kalutara, Sri Lanka
(top), on December 26, 2004,
at 10:20 a.m. local time about
an hour after the first in the20
2004 tsunami in Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand.
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series of waves hit.

Mar. 11, 2011 - Miyagi, Japan - A devastating tsunami wave hits, engulfing houses, after a
deadly 8.9 quake, the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and Japan's biggest ever, struck at 2:46
pm local time, off Japan's east coast, shaking buildings violently in Tokyo 186 miles away,
sending millions fleeing for higher ground. Tsunamis hit with 30+ foot waves, reaching as 21 far 22
as 3 miles inland.

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Residents walk along a damaged road caused by an earthquake in Guihulngan, Negros

Oriental in central Philippines February 7, 2012. Philippine rescuers searched on Tuesday for
29 residents of a mountainside community feared dead after a landslide triggered by an
25 earthquake engulfed their homes. A magnitude 6.7 quake struck near Tayasan town in the 26
central Philippine island of Negros on Monday.

A man stands on top of the houses destroyed by a landslide caused

by an earthquake in La Libertad, Negros Oriental in central 27 28
Philippines February 7, 2012.

2008 Great Sichuan Earthquake in China Aerial photo of the San Andreas Fault in the
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Carrizo Plain, northwest of Los Angeles

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Impacts of Earthquakes Earthquakes

of magnitude
 Damage & destruction of properties 8.0 and
greater since
and infrastructure (roads, bridges & 1900. The
utility cables, etc) apparent 3D
volumes of
 Injuries and deaths
the bubbles
 Clearing of debris are linearly
proportional
 Cost & time for reconstruction to their
respective
fatalities.

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Rare Video: Japan Tsunami

Wave That Shook The World -
June 9, 2011
tsunami documentary — The March 11 earthquake and
tsunami left more than 28,000 dead or
missing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L http://video.nationalgeographic.com/v
29cGa677qshttps://www.youtube.co ideo/news/japan-tsunami-2011-
m/watch?v=L29cGa677qs vin?source=relatedvideo

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Summary
 Earthquakes manifest themselves by

shaking and sometimes displacement of

the ground.
 When the epicenter of a large
earthquake is located offshore, the
seabed may be displaced sufficiently to
cause a tsunami.
 Earthquakes can also trigger landslides,
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and occasionally volcanic activity.

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