1

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in
the Earth's crust that createsseismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area
refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.
Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most
common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe. The
more numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5 reported by national seismological observatories
are measured mostly on the local magnitude scale, also referred to as the Richter magnitude scale. These
two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly
almost imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause serious damage over larger
areas, depending on their depth. The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly
over 9, although there is no limit to the possible magnitude. The most recent large earthquake of magnitude
9.0 or larger was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011 (as of March 2014), and it was the largest
Japanese earthquake since records began. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale.
The shallower an earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being equal.
At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the
ground. When the epicentre of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced
sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity.
In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event whether natural or
caused by humans that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of
geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear
tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenteris the point at
ground level directly above the hypocenter.

Naturally occurring earthquakes

2


Fault types
Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to
drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly
and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increase the
frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of stick-slip
behaviour. Once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing
stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the
stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion
of the fault, releasing the stored energy.
[2]
This energy is released as a combination of radiated
elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of the fault surface, and cracking of the rock, thus causing an
earthquake. This process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden
earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of
an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to
power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction. Therefore,
earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic potential energy and raise its temperature, though these
changes are negligible compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from the Earth's deep
interior.
[3]

Earthquakes and volcanic activity
Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the
movement of magma in volcanoes. Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic eruptions,
as during the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980.
[17]
Earthquake swarms can serve as markers for the
location of the flowing magma throughout the volcanoes. These swarms can be recorded by seismometers
and tiltmeters (a device that measures ground slope) and used as sensors to predict imminent or upcoming
eruptions.
[18]

Size and frequency of occurrence
The number of seismic stations has increased from about 350 in 1931 to many thousands today. As a
result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past, but this is because of the vast improvement in
instrumentation, rather than an increase in the number of earthquakes. The United States Geological
Survey estimates that, since 1900, there have been an average of 18 major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0
7.9) and one great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per year, and that this average has been
relatively stable.
[35]
In recent years, the number of major earthquakes per year has decreased, though this is
probably a statistical fluctuation rather than a systematic trend.
[36]
More detailed statistics on the size and
frequency of earthquakes is available from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
[37]
A recent
increase in the number of major earthquakes has been noted, which could be explained by a cyclical
pattern of periods of intense tectonic activity, interspersed with longer periods of low-intensity. However,
accurate recordings of earthquakes only began in the early 1900s, so it is too early to categorically state
that this is the case.
[38]

Most of the world's earthquakes (90%, and 81% of the largest) take place in the 40,000 km long,
horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific seismic belt, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, which for
the most part bounds the Pacific Plate.
[39][40]
Massive earthquakes tend to occur along other plate
boundaries, too, such as along the Himalayan Mountains.
[41]

3

Induced seismicity
Main article: Induced seismicity
While most earthquakes are caused by movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, human activity can also
produce earthquakes. Four main activities contribute to this phenomenon: storing large amounts of water
behind a dam (and possibly building an extremely heavy building), drilling and injecting liquid into wells,
and by coal mining and oil drilling.
[43]
Perhaps the best known example is the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in
China's Sichuan Provincein May; this tremor resulted in 69,227 fatalities and is the 19th deadliest
earthquake of all time. The Zipingpu Dam is believed to have fluctuated the pressure of the fault 1,650 feet
(503 m) away; this pressure probably increased the power of the earthquake and accelerated the rate of
movement for the fault.
[44]
The greatest earthquake in Australia's history is also claimed to be induced by
humanity, through coal mining. The city of Newcastle was built over a large sector of coal mining areas.
The earthquake has been reported to be spawned from a fault that reactivated due to the millions of tonnes
of rock removed in the mining process.
[45]

Effects of earthquakes
Shaking and ground rupture

Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 2010.
Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in more or
less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures. The severity of the local effects depends on the
complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the distance from the epicenter, and the local
geological and geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave propagation.
[48]
The
ground-shaking is measured byground acceleration.
Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce high levels of shaking
on the ground surface even from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or local amplification. It
is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion from hard deep soils to soft superficial soils and to
effects of seismic energy focalization owing to typical geometrical setting of the deposits.
Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of the fault,
which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground rupture is a major
risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power stationsand requires careful
mapping of existing faults to identify any which are likely to break the ground surface within the life of the
structure.
[49]

Landslides and avalanches
Main article: Landslide
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Landslides became a symbol of the devastation the 2001 El Salvador earthquakes left, killing hundreds in its wake.
Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, coastal wave attack, and wildfires, can produce
slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard. Landslide danger may persist while
emergency personnel are attempting rescue.
[50]

Fires


Fires of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water mains
rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started.
For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were caused by fire than by the
earthquake itself.
[51]

Soil liquefaction
Main article: Soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material (such as sand)
temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction may cause rigid
structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits. For example, in the 1964
Alaska earthquake, soil liquefaction caused many buildings to sink into the ground, eventually collapsing
upon themselves.
[52]

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Tsunami

The tsunami of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
A large ferry boat rests inland amidst destroyed houses after a 9.0earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan in March
2011.
Main article: Tsunami
Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or abrupt movement of
large volumes of water. In the open ocean the distance between wave crests can surpass 100 kilometers
(62 mi), and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one hour. Such tsunamis travel 600-
800 kilometers per hour (373497 miles per hour), depending on water depth. Large waves produced by an
earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis
can also travel thousands of kilometers across open ocean and wreak destruction on far shores hours after
the earthquake that generated them.
[53]

Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale do not cause tsunamis,
although some instances of this have been recorded. Most destructive tsunamis are caused by
earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.
[53]

Floods
Main article: Flood
A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches land.
[54]
Floods occur usually when the volume of
water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the total capacity of the formation, and as a
result some of the water flows or sits outside of the normal perimeter of the body. However, floods may be
secondary effects of earthquakes, if dams are damaged. Earthquakes may cause landslips to dam rivers,
which collapse and cause floods.
[55]

The terrain below the Sarez Lake in Tajikistan is in danger of catastrophic flood if the landslide dam formed
by the earthquake, known as the Usoi Dam, were to fail during a future earthquake. Impact projections
suggest the flood could affect roughly 5 million people.
[56]

Human impacts
An earthquake may cause injury and loss of life, road and bridge damage, general property damage, and
collapse or destabilization (potentially leading to future collapse) of buildings. The aftermath may
bring disease, lack of basic necessities, and higher insurance premiums.

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Flood
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry.
[1]
The European
Union (EU) Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not normally covered by
water.
[2]
In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may
occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river or lake, in which the water overtops or
breaks levees, resulting in some of that water escaping its usual boundaries,
[3]
or it may occur due to an
accumulation of rainwater on saturated ground in an areal flood. While the size of a lake or other body of
water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, these changes in size are unlikely to
be considered significant unless they flood property or drown domestic animals.
Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at
bends or meanders in the waterway. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are in
the natural flood plains of rivers. While riverine flood damage can be eliminated by moving away from rivers
and other bodies of water, people have traditionally lived and worked by rivers because the land is usually
flat and fertile and because rivers provide easy travel and access to commerce and industry.
Some floods develop slowly, while others such as flash floods, can develop in just a few minutes and
without visible signs of rain. Additionally, floods can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or
very large, affecting entire river basins.
Etymology [edit]
The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic
languages (compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float; also compare
with Latin fluctus, flumen). Deluge myths are mythical stories of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to
destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution, and they are featured in the mythology of many cultures.
Principal types and causes[edit]
Areal (rainfall related)[edit]
Floods can happen on flat or low-lying areas when the ground is saturated and water either cannot run
off or cannot run off quickly enough to stop accumulating. This may be followed by a river flood as water
moves away from the floodplain into local rivers and streams.
Floods can also occur if water falls on an impermeable surface, such as concrete, paving or frozen ground,
and cannot rapidly dissipate into the ground.
Localized heavy rain from a series of storms moving over the same area can cause areal flash
flooding when the rate of rainfall exceeds the drainage capacity of the area. When this occurs on tilled
fields, it can result in a muddy flood where sediments are picked up by run off and carried as suspended
matter or bed load.
Riverine[edit]
River or rambla flows may rise to floods levels at different rates, from a few minutes to several weeks,
depending on the type of river or rambla and the source of the increased flow.
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Slow rising floods most commonly occur in large rivers with large catchment areas. The increase in flow
may be the result of sustained rainfall, rapid snow melt, monsoons, or tropical cyclones. Localized flooding
may be caused or exacerbated by drainage obstructions such as landslides, ice, ordebris.
Rapid flooding events, including flash floods, more often occur on smaller rivers, rivers with steep valleys,r
rivers that flow for much of their length over impermeable terrain or ramblas. The cause may be
localized convective precipitation (intense thunderstorms) or sudden release from an upstream
impoundment created behind a dam, landslide, or glacier.
Dam-building beavers can flood low-lying urban and rural areas, occasionally causing some damage.
Estuarine and coastal[edit]
Flooding in estuaries is commonly caused by a combination of sea tidal surges caused by winds and
low barometric pressure, and they may be exacerbated by high upstream river flow.
Coastal areas may be flooded by storm events at sea, resulting in waves over-topping defenses or in
severe cases by tsunami or tropical cyclones. Astorm surge, from either a tropical cyclone or
an extratropical cyclone, falls within this category.
Urban flooding[edit]
Urban flooding is the inundation of land or property in a built environment, particularly in more densely
populated areas, caused by rainfall overwhelming the capacity of drainage systems, such as storm sewers.
Although sometimes triggered by events such as flash flooding or snowmelt, urban flooding is a condition,
characterized by its repetitive and systemic impacts on communities, that can happen regardless of
whether or not affected communities are located within formally designated floodplains or near any body of
water.
[4]
There are several ways in which stormwaterenters properties: backup through sewer pipes, toilets
and sinks into buildings; seepage through building walls and floors; the accumulation of water on property
and in public rights-of-way; and the overflow from water bodies such as rivers and lakes.
Catastrophic[edit]
Catastrophic flooding is usually associated with major infrastructure failures such as the collapse of a dam,
but they may also be caused by damage sustained in an earthquake or volcanic eruption. See outburst
flood.
Effects[edit]
Primary effects[edit]
The primary effects of flooding include loss of life, damage to buildings and other structures, including
bridges, sewerage systems, roadways, andcanals.
Floods also frequently damage power transmission and sometimes power generation, which then
has knock-on effects caused by the loss of power. This includes loss of drinking water treatment and water
supply, which may result in loss of drinking water or severe water contamination. It may also cause the loss
of sewage disposal facilities. Lack of clean water combined with human sewage in the flood waters raises
the risk of waterborne diseases, which can include typhoid, giardia, cryptosporidium, cholera and many
other diseases depending upon the location of the flood.
8

Damage to roads and transport infrastructure may make it difficult to mobilize aid to those affected or to
provide emergency health treatment.
Flood waters typically inundate farm land, making the land unworkable and preventing crops from being
planted or harvested, which can lead to shortages of food both for humans and farm animals. Entire
harvests for a country can be lost in extreme flood circumstances. Some tree species may not survive
prolonged flooding of their root systems
[8]

Secondary and long-term effects[edit]
Economic hardship due to a temporary decline in tourism, rebuilding costs, or food shortages leading to
price increases is a common after-effect of severe flooding. The impact on those affected may cause
psychological damage to those affected, in particular where deaths, serious injuries and loss of property
occur.
Urban flooding can lead to chronically wet houses, which are linked to an increase in respiratory problems
and other illnesses.
[9]
Urban flooding also has significant economic implications for affected neighborhoods.
In the United States, industry experts estimate that wet basements can lower property values by 10-25
percent and are cited among the top reasons for not purchasing a home.
[10]
According to the U.S. Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), almost 40 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors
following a flooding disaster.
[11]