4.

0 Introduction to Earthquake Engineering

An earthquake is a shaking of the ground caused by sudden movements in the earth's crust. Every year tens
of thousands of earthquakes of all sizes occur all around the world. Some cause tiny tremors and some
cause death and destruction. Others occur in remote regions where nobody lives. We only know about them
because they are measured on seismometers.

The Earth

The earth is made up of four layers, the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core.

Figure1: The Earth

Tectonic Plates

The surface of the earth is made up of 21 tectonic plates, some large and some small, that are constantly
moving. The plates consist of the earth's crust and lithosphere. The plates can be up to 160 kilometres thick.

The plates move around on a soft layer of the earth's mantle called the asthenosphere, causing their edges to
either slide past each other, slide under each other, push into each other or pull apart.

As the plates are forced against each other, they deform, and eventually they crush and fracture. The
sudden fracture of the rock sends out a shock wave that causes the earth's surface to shake. This is one way
earthquakes can happen.

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 Figure 2: Tectonic plates

Over millions of years the earth's tectonic plates have been moving continuously and pushing against each
other. These movements have forced them to deform producing mountains and valleys in the earth's
surface.

Sometimes the rocky surface of the earth has just been bent and folded. Sometimes the movements have
caused the rock to deform so much that they fracture. These fractures are called faults.

Figure 3:How rocks fracture

When the rock fractures, its sudden movement causes an earthquake as shock waves spread away from it.

A fault is a weak point within the rock. So movement can occur there again under new tectonic forces, and
another earthquake occurs. This can happen time and time again.

There are three main types of fault movement that can occur. They are:

Normal faults, Reverse faults and Strike-slip faults.

Earthquakes can be caused by natural events or human activities. Here are some of the different causes of
earthquakes.

Tectonic Plate Movement, Volcanic Activity, Explosions, Collapsed Mines and Water Pressure in
Reservoirs

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Tectonic Plate Movement

This is the most common cause of earthquakes. The earthquake occurs when the pressure that has built up
in tectonic plates causes the rock to break suddenly. This usually occurs at the boundaries of tectonic plates
and along existing faults.

Volcanic Activity

Volcanic activity is often accompanied by earthquakes.

The flow of magma can cause earthquakes

Often a volcanic eruption is accompanied by small tremors just before, during and after it. Deep below the
vent of the volcano, hot magma moves slowly through underground passages, under pressure, as it makes
its way towards the earth' surface. As this happens, the surrounding rock is put under pressure as the
magma pushes against it. This causes the rock to fracture and small earthquakes to occur.

Earthquakes can cause magma to flow and lava to erupt

It is thought that sometimes, the rupture of a fault causes an earthquake which shakes up magma stored
deep below a volcano. This can cause a build up of gas and steam from the magma which forces lava to
erupt from the volcano.

This happens in certain regions of the world, particularly at the boundaries of tectonic plates either where
one plate slides under another or where two plates are pulling apart.

Collapsed Mines
Small seismic events can be produced when the roof of underground caves or mines collapse.

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Explosions

Humans have caused explosion earthquakes by detonating nuclear devices. Underground nuclear
explosions have caused moderate sized earthquakes which have been felt by people up to 50 kilometres
away. Rock blasting in quarries also produce small seismic events which people sometimes mistakenly
believe to be earthquakes.

Water Pressure from Reservoirs

When a dam is constructed, the valley behind it is filled with water to form a reservoir. The weight of the
water increases the load on the rocks below the valley surface. It also increases the pressure of the water
within the rock in the area, which can lubricate existing faults making it easier for them to slip. For deep
reservoirs this can lead to the rupture of faults in the rock, triggering earthquakes as large as Magnitude 6.

e.g. The Koyna Dam

Construction of the Koyna Dam was completed in 1963 in Western India. It is a 103 metre high gravity
dam made of concrete. As the reservoir was being filled, a number of earthquakes were felt in the area. At
first, they were small. Then they increased in size until on December 10th 1967, a Magnitude 6.5
earthquake occurred. The earthquake actually severely damaged the dam with cracks appearing on its
upstream and downstream faces. Also, 200 people were killed, and 1500 injured, as nearby buildings were
damaged.

Seismic Waves

When the rock breaks, there is a sudden release of energy due to the pressure that has built up as a result of
tectonic plate movements. Shock waves spread out through and around the earth in all directions, starting
from the focus of the earthquake. At the earth's surface the ground vibrates as the waves pass through it.
The way the waves spread is a bit like the ripples spreading on a pond when a stone is dropped into it.
Energy spreads out through the earth in different wave types; P-Waves, S-Waves and Surface Waves

P-Waves

P-waves travel faster than the other seismic waves. They are longitudinal waves. They travel like sound
waves in the air, transferring energy as the ground particles are pushed together and pulled apart. The
particles move in the same direction as the wave is travelling.

Figure 4: P- Waves

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P-waves travel between 4-8 kilometres per second. P-waves can travel through solid rock and through
liquid. They can be transmitted into the air as sound waves where they can be heard as a low rumbling
sound

S-Waves

S-waves travel at about half the speed of P-waves. They are transverse waves, transferring energy as the
ground particles are vibrated from side to side, at right angles to the direction that the wave is travelling.

Figure 4: S-waves

S-waves travel at about 2-5 kilometres per second. S-waves can travel through solid rock, but not through
air and liquid.

Surface Waves

Surface waves are the slowest seismic waves. They are like waves on the sea which have a complicated
rolling motion. As these waves travel, their movement is greatest at the earth's surface. The movement gets
smaller and smaller at greater depths below the surface.

Figure 5: Surface Waves

Surface waves travel at about 1.8-4.5 kilometres per second.

Surface waves take time and distance to develop. Their vibrations are small near the epicentre of an
earthquake, while further away they can be the main cause of the ground shaking that is felt.

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There are two types of surface wave. The one shown is a Raleigh wave. The other, called a Love wave,
causes a side to side movement of the ground compared to the direction that the wave is travelling.

The Size of Earthquakes

The size of an earthquake can be described by its

Magnitude - the amount of energy it releases into the earth's crust.

Intensity- the amount the ground shakes.

Magnitude

The magnitude of an earthquake is a measure of the amount of energy it releases into the earth's crust. It
gives an idea of the strength of an earthquake. The upper end of the magnitude scale is limited by the
strength of the rock in the earth's crust. The largest earthquakes have a magnitude of between 9 and 10.

For each unit on the scale, the energy released by an earthquake is about 30 times greater than the unit
below. So, a magnitude 6 earthquake releases 30 times as much energy than a magnitude 5 earthquake, and
900 times as much energy as a magnitude 4 earthquake. Usually measured by Richter’s scale.

Intensity of Earthquakes

Intensity is a measure of how much the ground shakes during an earthquake. For the same earthquake, its
intensity will vary from place to place. Usually, it is greatest near the epicentre, and it gets smaller further
away.

Intensity is not measured on instruments. It is worked out by considering the effects on people and
buildings. Intensity scales usually have 12 points on them. The intensities of an earthquake at different
locations can be shown on a map. Lines called isoseismals are drawn joining points on the map having
equal intensity.

Figure 6: This is an isoseismal map for the magnitude 4.2 (ML) Warwick earthquake of September 23rd
2000, in England, showing isoseismals from intensity 2 to 5.

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How Earthquakes Make Buildings Vibrate

Every building has its own fundamental frequency. If the ground below the building started to shake to and
fro at the buildings natural frequency, it would cause the building to vibrate very strongly. This is known as
resonance.

If the ground vibrated at a different frequency, the building would not vibrate as strongly. In fact the
building's vibrations get much smaller, as the frequency of shaking moves further away from the natural
frequency of the building.

When the ground shakes during an earthquake, it does not have one frequency of vibration, but it is made
up from a mixture of frequencies. A building will vibrate more strongly when any of those frequencies are
close to its fundamental frequency.

 Earthquakes can cause buildings to vibrate.

 Every building has a number of ways, or modes, in which it can vibrate naturally. In each mode, the
building vibrates to and fro with a particular distorted shape called its mode shape.

 The number of times it vibrates to and fro every second is the frequency of vibration for that mode.

 Every building has its own set of natural frequencies of vibration.

Earthquakes usually make buildings vibrate most strongly in their fundamental mode, the mode of vibration
with the lowest frequency.

Fundamental mode 2nd mode 3rd mode

The natural frequencies of vibration of a building depend on its mass and its stiffness (or how flexible it is).

The natural frequency for each mode of vibration follows this rule:

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f = natural frequency in Hertz.
K = the stiffness of the building associated with this mode
M = the mass of the building associated with this mode

Buildings tend to have lower natural frequencies when they are:

 Either heavier (more mass)

 Or more flexible (that is less stiff).

One of the main things that affect the stiffness of a building is its height. Taller buildings tend to be more
flexible, so they tend to have lower natural frequencies compared to shorter buildings.

Taller buildings tend to have a lower natural frequency than shorter buildings.

How Vibrations Die Out

During an earthquake, the shaking ground can make buildings vibrate. The vibrations die out because of
damping which removes energy from the moving building.

The damping can be caused by

 Friction as different parts of the building move against each other.

 Internal friction in the materials making up the structural members and other parts of the building.

 Damage in the building, for example, cracking in concrete or brickwork or permanent distortions in
steel.

Engineers can design buildings to have extra damping, by adding dampers to the structural frame. The
dampers absorb energy from a vibrating building, so that its movement is not as violent.