EARTHQUAKE
Parts of the Earthquake
Earthquake
Keywords:
Sudden – unexpected happening
Occurrence – something that happens
Strain – excessive pressure to injure by overuse or misuse
Geological – pertaining to history of the earth and its life especially as recorded in rocks
Rupture – the state of being broken apart
Slants – to take a diagonal course, direction, or path
Convergent – tending to move toward one point or to approach each other
Divergent – to move or extend in different directions from a common point
Thrust – to push or drive with force
Earthquake
SEISMOLOGY
Study of an earthquake
SEISMOLOGIST
Scientists who study earthquakes
PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology)
Agency that monitors the earthquakes and fault movements
Earthquake
An earthquake is on the of the most
frightening things that anyone can ever
experience. You grow up believing that the
Earth is rock solid and steady. But then the
ground suddenly shakes and you do not
know what to believe anymore.
Earthquake
Strong earthquakes have caused countless
deaths all over the world, even before
people have started recording these events.
No wonder scientists have been working
very hard to find a way to predict when an
earthquake occurs.
Earthquake
No one can stop quakes from happening.
But there are things that people can do to
avoid or reduce loss of life and damage to
property. The first step is to have a clear
understanding of the occurrence of
earthquakes.
What is a fault?
Earthquake occur when rocks along a fault suddenly
move. The first thing to do then is to learn what a
fault is. A fault is a break in the Earth’s crust along
which significant movement has taken place.
The word “break” refers to a crack in the ground.
The word “crust” refers to the outermost layer of the
Earth. We live on the surface of the crust.
“Significant movement” means that the rocks have
been displaced or shifted considerably.
Types of Faults
Horizontal Displacement Faults
happens when the fault is moving from side
to side, where the displacement along the
fault is in the direction of dip and movement
on them involves a vertical component.
Horizontal Displacement Faults
A. Normal Faults
when the rock that is hanging over the slanted
fault plane slips downwards.
B. Reverse Fault
the rock that is hanging over the slanted fault
plane slips upwards. Reverse faults occur in
areas where the crust is being shortened such
as at a convergent boundary.
Horizontal Displacement Faults
A. Normal Faults
when the rock that is hanging over the slanted
fault plane slips downwards.
B. Reverse Fault
the rock that is hanging over the slanted fault
plane slips upwards. Reverse faults occur in
areas where the crust is being shortened such
as at a convergent boundary.
Horizontal Displacement Fault
The fault is called a normal fault, but if the rock slips, then it is a reverse
fault (sometimes called a thrust fault.)
Types of Faults
Vertical Displacement Fault
happens when one side of a fault moves
upward above the other side.
Vertical Displacement Fault
C. Strike-slip fault
are steep structures where the two sides of the
fault slip horizontally past each other;
transform boundaries are a particular type of
strike-slip fault.
Other types of fault
Oblique-slip faults
a fault which has a component of dip-slip and
a component of strike-slip is termed an
oblique-slip fault. Nearly all faults will have
some component of both dip-slip and strike-
slip, so defining a fault as oblique requires
both dip and strike components to be
measurable and significant.
Other types of fault
Listric Fault
a listric fault is a type of fault plane is curved.
The dip of the fault plane becomes shallower
with increased depth and may flatten into a
sub-horizontal décollement.
Other types of fault
Ring Fault
Ring faults are faults that occur within
collapsed volcanic calderas. Ring faults may
be filled by ring dikes.
What is a focus and epicenter?
The focus is the place where the first break happens,
where the fault starts to slip, where first movement
takes place. It is the starting point of the earthquake.
The epicenter is on the surface of the Earth directly
above the focus.
Origin of the Quake
One characteristic of an earthquake is that when it is
shallower in origin, the more damage to structures it
causes.
Shallow focus – Earthquakes are created if the focus is
near the surface of the earth between 0 and 40 miles (0 to
70 km) deep.
Mid Focus – Are earthquakes with a focal depth between
70 and 300km.
Origin of the Quake
Deep Focus – Earthquake are created if the focus is deep
within the earth. Deep focus earthquake usually begin in
places where one tectonic plate moves under another one,
or subducts.
