Earthquake &

Ground Motion
EARTHQUAKE
ENGINEERING

By Dr.Suresh Borra
 Introduction
 Earthquake: May be defined as wave like motion generated
by forces in constant turmoil under surface layer of the
earth(the lithosphere) travelling through the earth crust
 Or
 Also defined as the vibration, sometimes violent , of the
earth’s surface as a result of release of energy in the earth’s
crust.
 The Interior Of The Earth
 The earth is conceived to be composed of a sequence of shells
or layers called geospheres.
 A) Barysphere:
 i) Also known as the core( composed of inner core and outer
core)
 ii) Inner core Outer core
a) Radius is 1221 km a) Radius 2259 km thick
b) Composed mainly Nickel b)Composed an alloy of
and Iron Nickel , Iron and Silica
c)It’s density is 16000 c) It’s density 12000
d) It behaves like a solid mass d) The outer core exists as
Liquid
Continuation…..
 iii) The temperature at the core is about and the pressure
is about atm
 B) Asthenosphere:
 i) Also known as mantle
 ii) It is 2685 thick
 iii) It is composed of hot, dense ultrabasic igneous rock
in a plastic state
 iv) It’s density 5000- 6000
 C) Lithosphere:
 i)Also Known as the crust
 ii)It is thinnest outer solid shell
 iii) It is 200Km thick
 iv) It’s density of 1500
Continuation……
Convection currents.
 i) It is developed because of high pressure and
temperature gradient between the crust and the
core
 ii)These currents developed in the viscous mantle
 iii) The energy for these circulations is derived
from the decay of radioactive elements present in
rock’s throughout the earth’s interior
Continuous…
 iv) These convection currents cause the earth’s mass to
circulate --- i.e, hot molten lava comes out and the cool
rock mass goes down into the earth, where it melts and
becomes a part of the mantle.
 V) The convective flow of the mantle material causes
the crust and some portion of the mantle to slide on the
hot molten outer core.
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Continuation……
 Vi) The earth’s crust therefore is not static but
subjected to motion.
 Vii) The earth crust consists of several gigantic rigid
rock plates that float in slow motion on the
viscous(Partially plastic) mantle and are called
tectonic plates.
 Viii) There are 12 major tectonic plates, 20 smaller
ones and many filler plates
 iX) These plates move in different directions and at
different speeds relative to each other at a rate 5 to
10 cm per year on the plastic mantle. The movement
is called Plate Tectonics.
Elastic Rebound Theory
 i)The theory was first proposed by M.F.Reid
 ii) He attributes the occurrence of tectonic
earthquakes to elastic rebound
 iii)Elastic rebound: The gradual accumulation and
subsequent release of stress and strain is described as
elastic rebound
 iv) The elastic rebound theory postulates that the
source of an earthquake is the sudden displacement
of the ground on both sides of the fault , which is a
result of the rupturing of the crustal rock.
Continuation…..
Continuation……
 Most earthquakes occur along the boundaries of
the tectonic plates and are called interplate
earthquakes.
 The earthquakes occurring within the plates
themselves , away from the plate boundaries are
called intraplate earthquakes.
 In both types, slips are generated during the
earthquake at the fault along both horizontal and
vertical directions known as dip-slip and the
lateral direction known as strike slip
 Plate Tectonic Theory
 i) According to this the earth’s crust consists of a number of
large rigid blocks called crustal plates.
 ii) These plates bear the loads of land masses , water bodies or
both and are in constant motion on the viscous mantle,
overriding, plunging beneath one another , colliding with each
other or brushing past one another.
 iii) The relative motion of crustal plates gives rise to three
kinds of plate boundaries or marginal zones.
 A) Divergent(constructive margin)
B) Convergent (destructive margin)
C) Transform( Conservative margin) or parallel plate
boundaries.
Continuation….
 A) Zones of Divergence (Constructive Margin): These
are zones of tension in which the lithosphere splits,
separates and moves apart as hot magma wells up
through cracks , solidifies and deposits new material
onto the edges of oceanic plates, forming oceanic ridges;
---hence the term constructive margin.
 This process is also known as sea floor spreading
 This seismicity(occurrence of earthquakes) is associated
with volcanic activity along the axes of ridges.
 Example- Mid- Atlantic ridge.
 The stretching caused by this process is not uniform all
along the oceanic ridges.
 The oceanic ridges are offset by many transform faults.
Continuation….
 B) Zones of Convergence(Destructive Margin):
 i) These are boundaries along which the edge of
one plate overrides the other.
 ii)Upon collision the leading edge of the higher
density plate may bend downwards causing it to
descend beneath the other plate
 iii) The plunging plate enters the hot
asthenosphere, gets heated , melts and assimilates
completely within the material of the upper mantle
forming new magma. This process is known as
subduction.
 Continuation….
 iv) The narrow plate boundary areas(subduction zones)
are associated with
 the creation of deep ocean trenches
 shallow to deep major earthquakes.
 Volcanism
 basins and
 Folded mountains
 V)Since one of the plates is destroyed here, such a
boundary is known as a destructive margin.
 Vi) When an oceanic plate collides with a continental
plate, it slides beneath the continental plate forming a
deep oceanic trench.
 Continuous…
 C) Transform Zones( Conservative margin):
 i) These zones are also known as transformed faults or
fracture zones
 ii) In these zones the lithosphere plates slide past each
other horizontally without any creation or destruction.
 iii) The edges of the two plates scrape each other closely,
creating tension along the boundaries associated with
shallow focus seismic events unaccompanied with
volcanic activity.
 iv) This boundary is thus also called a parallel or
transform fault boundary.
 Nature and occurrence of the Earthquake
 i) An earthquake generates a similar disturbance as waves similar to
those caused by a stone thrown into a pool spread out through the earth
 ii)Shocks: The vibrations felt in the bedrock are called shocks
(foreshocks, aftershocks)
 iii) Focus, Centre or Hypocenter- The point of generation of an
earthquake
 iv) Epicenter- The point on the earth’s surface directly above the focus
 V)Focal depth- The depth of the focus from the epicenter
 iv) Focal distance or epicentral distance- The distance from the epicenter
to any point of interest
 V)Focal region- Seismic destruction propagates from the focus through a
limited region of the surrounding earth’s body
 Vi) Isoseismal line- The line joining locations experiencing locations
equal earthquake intensity is known as
 Vii) Homoseismal line- The line joining locations at which the shock
arrives simultaneously is known as
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 Continuous….
 The locations of an earthquake’s focus is important because it
indicates the depth at which rupture and movement occur.
 Shallow focus earthquakes: are most frequent and originate
from up to a depth of 70 km from the surface of the earth.
 Intermediate focus earthquakes: Occur between 70 km and
300 km
 Deep focus earthquakes: Earthquakes having a focal depth of
more than 300 km
 The maximum energy released by an earthquake progressively
tends to become smaller as the focal depth increases.
 The main consideration in the design of earthquake resistant
structures is shallow focus earthquake.
 Seismic waves
 The focus of an earthquake is calculated from the time that elapses
between the arrival of three major types of seismic waves.
 The large strain energy released during an earthquake travels in the form of
seismic waves in all directions.
Continuation…..
 They travels with accompanying reflections from earth’s
surface as well as reflections and refractions as they traverse
the earth’s interior.
Continuation….
 These waves can be classified as:
 i) Body waves- travelling through the interior of the
earth – consisting of P- waves(Primary, Longitudinal
or compressional waves) and S-waves(secondary,
transverse or shear waves) and
 ii) Surface waves- resulting from interaction between
body waves and surface layers of earth- consisting of
L-waves(Love waves) and Rayleigh waves.
 Body waves are travel through the interior of elastic
media and surface waves are bound to free surfaces.
Continuation….
Continuation….
 i)P-waves: The material particle oscillate back and forth in the
direction of propagation of the wave and cause alternate
compression(Push) and tension(rarefaction of material; pull) of
the medium.
 ii) These waves cause a momentary volume change in the
material through which they pass without any concomitant
momentary shape change in the material
 iii) P-waves are similar to sound waves and obey all physical
laws of science and acoustics.
 iv) Since geological materials are stiffer in volumetric
compression the P-waves are the fastest, followed in sequence
by S-waves, L-waves and Rayleigh waves
 V) P-waves can pass through solids and fluids.
 Continuation,……
 S-waves:
 i) The material particles in S-waves oscillate at right angles to
the direction of propagation of the wave and cause shearing
deformation as they travel through a material.
 ii) The direction of particle movement can be used to divide
s-waves into two components, SV(vertical plane movement)
and (SH- horizontal plane movement)
 iii) S-waves do not change the instantaneous volume of the
material gets distorted.
 iv) The velocity of the S-waves is directly proportional to the
shear strength of the material through which they pass.
 Continuation……
 V) S-waves do not travel through liquids as fluids have no
shearing stiffness.
 Vi) In association with the effects of L-waves , S-waves
cause maximum damage to structures by rocking surface in
both horizontal and vertical directions
 Vii) When P and S-waves reach the earth’s surface , most of
their energy is reflected back.---some of this energy returned
to the surface after being reflected from different layers of
soil and rock.
 Viii) Shaking due to earthquake is more severs(about twice
as much ) at the earth’s surface than at substantial depths
 Continuation….
 L-waves:
 i) These waves cause surface motion similar to that caused by
S-waves but with no vertical component.
 ii) L-waves are always dispersive and are often described as
SH waves that are trapped in by multiple reflections within the
surficial layers.
 Rayleigh waves:
 i) These waves make a material particle oscillate in an
elliptical path in the vertical plane (with horizontal motion
along the direction of energy transmission)
Continuation..
 ii) These are produced by the interaction of P- and S-
waves with the surface of the earth.
 iii) The velocity of Rayleigh waves depends on
Poisson's ratio of the material through which they pass.

 iv) Rayleigh waves are believed to be the principal

component of ground roll.(Ground roll is a form of
coherent linear noise which propagates at the surface
of earth, at low velocity and low frequency)
 Continuation……..
 The propagation of velocities of P-and S-waves respectively
are expressed as follows.

 Where E- young’s modulus, G- is shear modulus, - is the mass

density and - is the Poisson's ratio(0.25 for earth)

 Near the surface of the earth and

Continuous…
 The time interval between the arrival of a P-wave and
S-wave at the observation station is known as
duration of primary tremors, and is given by
 where is the distance from the focus to the
observation point.
 The epicenter can thus be located and the depth of the
focus obtained graphically if earthquake records are
made at least at three different observation points.
 Measurement of Earthquake
 The severity of an earthquake can be assessed in the following
ways
 i) Quantifying it’s magnitude in terms of the energy released –
measuring the amplitude , frequency and location of the seismic
waves.
 ii) Evaluating the intensity- Considering the destructive effect
of shaking ground on people, structures and natural features.
 iii) It is easier to measure the magnitude because , unlike the
intensity which can vary with location and has no mathematical
backing the magnitude of a particular earthquake remains
constant.
 Continuation…..
 Intensity:
 i) The size of an earthquake can be described by it’s intensity
 ii) The oldest measure of earthquake size.
 iii) The intensity or destructive power of an earthquake is an
evaluation of the severity of the ground motion at a given
location and is represented by a numerical index.
 iv) It is measured in relation to the effect of the earthquake on
human life. (Generally destruction is described in terms of the
damage caused to buildings ,dams, bridges and so on.
 V) Intensity is a somewhat subjective(qualitative) measure in
that it is based on direct observation by individuals rather than
on instrumental measurements.
 Vi) Intensity is represented by roman capital letters
Continuation….
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INTENSITY OBSERVED EFFECT
Not Felt
Felt by Few People
Felt Noticeably indoors
Felt by many
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 Two intensity scales the Modified Mercille (MM)
intensity scale 1931 and the Medvedev-Spoonheuer
- Karnik(MSK-64) 1964 are generally used.
 Modified Mercalli Earthquake Intensity scale:
 i) The MM intensity of an earthquake is usually
assessed by distributing questionaries' to or
interviewing persons in the affected areas , in
addition to the observations of the earthquake’s
effects by experienced personnel
Continuation…
 Medvedev- sooopnheuer -karnik intensity scale.
 i) The MSK-64 intensity scale is prevalent in India and
Central and Eastern Europe.
 Ii) The scale is ore comprehensive than MM intensity
scale and describes the intensity of earthquakes more
precisely.
 iii) The description of each intensity level which takes
into account the type of structure, grade of damage to
the structure and the description of characteristic
effects.
 Continuation……
 Magnitude:
 i) The magnitude of an earthquake is a measure of the amount of
energy released.
 ii) It is quantitative measure of the actual size(amplitude) or
strength of the earthquake and is a much more precise measure
than intensity.
 iii) Earthquake magnitude is most often reported using the Richter
magnitude scale.
 iv) The Richter magnitude is based on the energy release of
earthquake which is closely related to the length of the fault on
which the slippage occurs.
 V) A Richter scale is a logarithmic scale.
 Continuation…..
 Where “A” is the maximum recorded trace amplitude for a
given earthquake at a distance and is that for a particular
earthquake selected as a standard.
 Since magnitude is a measure of the seismic energy released ,
which is proportional to The general form of the Richter
magnitude scale may be modified as follows.
Continuous…
 Where “A” and “T” are the ground displacement amplitude
and the period of the considered wave respectively
 - is the distance correction factor at epicentral distance
and focal depth “h”.
 regional source correction factor and is the station
correction factor
 The length of the fault “L in kilometers and the slip “U” in
the fault are related to the magnitude “M” as

 And