WHY DO EARTHQUAKES OCCUR?

Prepared by Chrsyna Shaleese A. de Guzman, STEM 11A

EARTHQUAKES
 Vibration of Earth by rapid release of energy due to slippage along a fault in crust
 Energy released through seismic waves
 Sudden shaking of the ground caused by the underground rock masses that suddenly shift in position. It
is believed that forces are interacting within the earth's interior. All the stress and strain produced by
these forces build up on the rocky crust and becomes lock due to friction. Slippage of rocks occurs when
the accumulating stress has enough force to overcome friction. The stored energy (potential energy) is
suddenly released into energy of motion (kinetic energy) and the rock masses suddenly shift in position.
The sudden shifting in the position of rocks causes the ground to vibrate.
 Also called shakers, quake, seismic activities
 TRIANGULATION METHOD- used to determine the location of epicenter from 3 recording stations
 FORESHOCK- Before an earthquake
MAINSHOCK- during an earthquake
AFTERSHOCK- after an earthquake; low intensity earthquakes that can happen after the main shock
waves happened. They occur due to the continuous release of frictional stress. Though smaller in intensity
than the main earthquake, they can still cause considerable damage to the natural and human-constructed
features that have already been weakened.

FORMATION OF EARTHQUAKE

1. Epicenter
 Point directly above focus (crust)
 the greatest damage happens at the epicenter
2. Focus/ hypocenter
 Point of origin (upper mantle)
 weakest part of the crust where the slippage of rocks occurs
3. Fault
 Fracture or break in earth’s surface (upper mantle)
 Thin zone
 zones of weakness in the crust
a. Dip-slip (up or down)
Normal or Gravity Fault is formed due to tensional forces that pull the crust apart. The
forces move the crust vertically apart. The footwall (FW) moves up and the hanging wall (HW)
on the other side moves down.
Reverse Fault / Thrust Fault is formed due to strong compressional forces that push the
crust towards each other. The forces likewise move the crust vertically apart. The hanging wall
(HW) moves up and the footwall (FW) moves down.

b. Strike slip/ Transform Fault/ Transcurrent (slide)

 It is due to horizontal forces that slide the crust past each other. The two layers of
rock between the faults are shifted horizontally or parallel to the fault plane.
 c. Oblique (one will go down then slide)
 Movements are a combination of the movements of a strike slip and a dip slip
fault. The fault slips in two simultaneous directions, a combination of the vertical
and the horizontal. The result is an oblique movement

TYPES OF FAULTS
Active Faults are areas where rock displacement can occur. According to seismologists, faults are
considered active if there has been observed movement during the last 10,000 years. Active Faults tend to occur
within the edges of tectonic plates. Inactive Faults are areas that do not produce earthquakes. Inactive Faults are
those that had not exhibited activity for millions of years.
1. Hanging Wall (HW)- Is the surface of block that is on top of the plane of the fault.
2. Footwall (FW)- is the surface or block that lies the plane of the fault.
ACTIVE FAULT LINES IN THE PHILIPPINES

 Philippine Fault Zone and the West Valley Fault- most active
FAULT LINES AFFECTED AREAS
Central Philippine Fault Entire llocos Norte, Aurora, Quezon, Masbate, Eastern Leyte, Southern
Leyte, Agusan Del Norte, Agusan Del Sur and Davao Del Norte

Marikina Valley Fault Montalban, San Mateo, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Muntinlupa, San Pedro,
Binan, Carmona, Santa Rosa, Calamba, Tagaytay and Oriental Mindoro

Western Philippine Fault Luzon Sea, Mindoro Strait, Panay Gulf and Sulu Sea

Eastern Philippine Fault Philippine Sea

Southern of Mindanao Fault Moro Gulf, Celebes Sea

TYPES OF EARTHQUAKES
1. Tectonic
 Caused by movement of tectonic plates
2. Volcanic
 Caused by volcanic eruption
3. Collapse
 Caused by collapsing of infrastructure or buildings
4. Explosion
 Caused by nuclear/ atomic bombs
LOCATION OF EARTHQUAKES
 Usually at Convergent plate boundaries
 At Pacific Ring of Fire
 Along fault lines
PLATE BOUNDARIES
The plates under the oceans are called oceanic plates and those under the continents are called
continental plates. The plates range in thickness, from 70 to 100 km thick, and the thinnest plates are those
found on the ocean floors. A plate boundary is an area where two plates collide, pull apart or slide past each
other.
1. Divergent Plate Boundary or Spreading Plate Boundary- It is an area where two plates move away from
each other, causing fractures in the lithosphere. The fractures become filled with upwelling magma floor
generated from great depths. As the magma cools off,a new crust is formed between the diverging
plates.
2. Convergent or Colliding Plate Boundary- It is an area where two plates meet or collide with each other.
A portion of the crust is destroyed in the impact and becomes smaller. In this type of plate boundary,
one plate is subducted and consumed backninto the asthenosphere as the other overrides it. The
Convergent Plates slide past each other, plate collisions can produce earthquakes, crustal without
creating or destroying deformation and volcanic activity.
3. Transform Plate Boundary. It is an area where two plates move sideways or slide past each other.
scrapping and deforming the edges of continents without destructions and formation of new crust. There
is tremendous amount of friction as the plates grind each other in different directions producing jerky
movements or violent earthquakes.

SEISMOLOGY
 the study of earthquakes and the waves they create.
 PHIVOLCS- Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
SEISMICITY
 Occurrence of seismic waves
SEISMIC WAVES
 Mechanical vibrations that occur in Earth (along fault lines) caused by breakage of rocks
 Also called earthquake waves
 energy that is released travels outward in all directions in the form of spherical wave energy
 Its properties are used to study the earth’s interior
 Seismograph- an instrument that detects, measures and records the seismic waves
 Seismogram-recordings made by a seismograph in zigzag lines
 Farther away from epicenter, the longer the time interval between P-wave and S-wave

 Types:
1. Body Waves
 Occur in the earth’s interior
 Higher frequency than surface waves
 Recorded first before surface waves
 Both P and S waves produce a sharp jolt or shaking of the ground. They likewise enable
seismologists to locate the focus and epicenter of an earthquake.
a. Primary (P-waves)
 Also called Compressional Waves
 Pulse energy travel through solid, liquid, gas
 Faster than S-wave
 Parallel to wave direction
 Recorded first (reason why it’s called “primary”)
  Back-and-forth (compress, expand)
 Longitudinal
b. Secondary (S-wave)
 Shear/ transverse waves
 Travel through solid, gas except liquid (that is why Earth’s outer core is liquid)
 Side-to-side rolling motion
 Perpendicular to wave direction
 Latitudinal
2. Surface waves
 Occur at the surface of the Earth
 Waves that travel like ripples in water. They have slow velocity and lower intensity as
compared to body waves.
a. Love waves
 Discovered by British Mathematician (1911) Augustus Edward Hough (AEH)
Love
 Faster than Rayleigh
 Side-to-side horizontal motion
 Causes most damage
b. Rayleigh waves
 Discovered by John William Strutt “Lord Rayleigh” (1885)
 Up-and-up down or side-to-side
Additional information about Seismic waves
Andrija Mohorovicic
 Yugoslavian
 1909: velocity of SW change and increase at a distance of about 50 km below Earth’s surface that led to
the difference in density below mantle & crust
 Moho discontinuity- boundary between mantle and crust
Layers of the Earth
1. Crust
2. Mantle (Upper and Lower)
3. Core (Outer- liquid and Inner)
Seismic waves as they travel through Earth

 Waves bend due to change in density of medium

 Higher depth, higher density
 P-waves: detected until 103 degrees, disappear from 103- 143 degrees
 S-waves: detected until 103 degrees
 S-waves can’t travel through liquid & P-waves are bent to some degree: Outer core is liquid
Beno Gutenberg
 German
 Existence of shadow zone because Earth is composed of a material different from that of mantle
 Gutenberg discontinuity- mantle—core
Inge Lehmann
 Danish
 1936: Seismic reflection---> “Earth has a core inside a core”
 Size of inner core: nuclear underground tests (Nevada) & echoes fr. SW
MAGNITUDE
 Measures energy released by earthquake
 Richter scale- designed by Dr. Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology, is the best
known logarithmic scale used in measuring the magnitude (strength of the shockwaves) of earthquakes
INTENSITY
 Measures the damage caused by earthquake
 Mercalli scale- compiled by Giuseppe Mercalli in 1902

TOP 5 EARTHQUAKES INTERNATIONALLY

1. Valdivia, Chile (May 22 1960; 9.5 magnitude)
2. Alaska, USA (1964; 9.2 M)
3. Sumatra, Indonesia (Dec 26, 2004; 9. 1)
4. Kamchatka, Russia (Nov 4, 1952; 9)
5. Tokyo, Japan (March 11, 2011; 9)
1990 EARTHQUAKE
 July 6, 1990; 7.8 Magnitude
 Strike Slip fault
ELASTIC BOUND THEORY
 Explains how energy is released during earthquake
 Harry Fielding Reid (American)
 “earthquakes must have been the result of the elastic rebound”
 Elastic rebound- bending of subsequent catching up of the crust of the strain energy stored in rocks on
either side
 Process:
1. Tectonic plates move slowly, their edges are locked in place, causing bending of crust
2. The force trying to make the edges slip overcomes friction (undefined shape)
3. The rock snaps back into an unstrained position, produces seismic waves
STRESSES IN THE CRUST
Faults are breaks in the weak parts of the earth's crust. It is when the unstable pieces begin to move very
slowly that energy builds up. It requires energy to move objects and moving objects themselves carry energy.
Movements of huge chunks of the crust involve a tremendous amount of energy. The movements are caused by
forces that push, pull, stretch, press or deform the rocks.
Stress- A force exerted upon some area of a material object. Stress tends to deform rocks.
a. Tension- Deforming forces that pull rocks apart.
b. Compression- When the rocks are pushed together.
c. Shear-When the rocks slide along each other
Tension pulls the blocks apart. When there is compression, the forces act against each other squeezing
the block to deform upon itself. When blocks slide past each other, shearing or tearing forces are at work.
STRAIN IN ROCKS

 Strain is a change in shape or size resulting from applied forces (deformation). Rocks only strain when
placed under stress
1. Normal strain
a. Tensile strain: When we apply a tensile force on a body its length increases. The ratio of
increase in length to the original length.
b. Compressive strain: When we apply a compressive force on a body its length
decreases. The ratio of decrease in length to the original length is called compressive
strain.
c. Volumetric strain: When we apply a force on all sides of a body its volume will
decrease. The ratio of change in volume to the original volume is called volumetric strain.
1. Shear strain- When we apply a tangential force on a body there is an angular displacement (θ),
which measures the shear strain.
The basic difference between stress and strain is that stress is the deforming force per unit area. Its unit
is same as pressure which is N/m², while strain is the apparent change in the shape, volume or length of object
caused due to stress is called strain. Strain has no unit.
DEFORMATION
 any process that affects the shape, size, or volume of an area of the Earth's crust.
 As rocks are stressed, they go through three stages of deformation. At first, the rock is strained enough
that its shape or size may change, but the change is reversible. This is the first stage, called elastic
deformation. Rocks may also become so deformed that the change is not reversible, which we call
ductile deformation. Ductile means that something can be changed into a new shape, but once this
happens, it stays that way. Finally, if rocks are stressed enough, they fracture, which is when the change
is irreversible and the rock breaks (permanently).