SEISMOGRAM

What is an earthquake ?
An earthquake is the vibration of
Earth produced by the rapid
release of energy
Energy released radiates in all
directions from its source, the
focus
Energy is in the form of waves
Sensitive instruments around the
world record the event

How earthquakes occur?

Earthquakes occur at FAULTS.
Fault is a weak zone separating two
geological blocks.
Tectonic forces
cause the blocks
to move relative
one to another.

Earthquake focus and

epicenter

Convection
Convection in the
astenosphere
enables tectonic
processes PLATE
TECTONICS

Plate
tectonics
PLATE TECTONICS theory is very
young (1960-ies)
It provides answers to the most
fundamental questions in
seismology:
Why earthquakes occur?
Why are earthquake epicenters
not
uniformly distributed around the
globe?

Major tectonic plates

Why do we need to define the size of

an earthquake?
(1) We need some way to measure
quantitatively the size of an
earthquake so that we can compare
the sizes of different events.
(2) Our measure of earthquake size must
be based on basic physical principles.

What data can we use to measure earthquake

size?
(1) We can use measurements of the sizes of
waves on seismographs (easy to measure).
(2) We can use measures of deformations of
the ground (limited to large earthquakes;
hard to measure).
(3) We can use earthquake felt or damage
effects (limited to large earthquakes;
observations often imprecise).

Measuring
Earthquakes

Historically, scientists have used two different

types of measurements to describe the size of an
earthquake intensity and magnitude
Richter Scale outdated scale for measuring the
magnitude of earthquakes, uses amplitude of the
largest seismic wave and uses a logarithmic scale
(ten times increase for every increase of 1 on the
scale)
Moment Magnitude derived from the amount
of displacement that occurs along a fault zone
(surface area of fault) x (avg. displacement along
fault) x (rigidity of rock)
Moment magnitude is the most widely used
measurement for earthquakes because it is the
only magnitude scale that estimates the energy

Moment Magnitude

Modified Mercalli Scale

Modified Mercalli Scale rates an earthquakes
intensity in terms of the earthquakes effects at
different locations
It has 12 steps, expressed as roman numerals
An earthquake that can barely be felt is rated as a
I
An earthquake that causes near total damage is
rated as a XII
The same earthquake can be given different
ratings at different locations

Modified Mercalli Scale

I. Instrumental

Not felt except by a very few under especially favorable conditions.

II. Feeble

Felt only by a few persons at rest, especially on upper floors of buildings. Delicately suspended objects
may swing.

III. Slight

Felt quite noticeably by persons indoors, especially on the upper floors of buildings. Many do not
recognize it as an earthquake. Standing motor cars may rock slightly. Vibration similar to the passing of a
truck. Duration estimated.

IV. Moderate

Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few during the day. At night, some awakened. Dishes, windows, doors
disturbed; walls make cracking sound. Sensation like heavy truck striking building. Standing motor cars
rocked noticeably. Dishes and windows rattle.

V. Rather Strong

Felt by nearly everyone; many awakened. Some dishes and windows broken. Unstable objects
overturned. Clocks may stop.

VI. Strong

Felt by all; many frightened and run outdoors, walk unsteadily. Windows, dishes, glassware broken;
books off shelves; some heavy furniture moved or overturned; a few instances of fallen plaster. Damage
slight.

VII. Very Strong

Difficult to stand; furniture broken; damage negligible in building of good design and construction; slight to
moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed
structures; some chimneys broken. Noticed by persons driving motor cars.

VIII. Destructive

Damage slight in specially designed structures; considerable in ordinary substantial buildings with partial
collapse. Damage great in poorly built structures. Fall of chimneys, factory stacks, columns, monuments,
walls. Heavy furniture moved.

IX. Ruinous

General panic; damage considerable in specially designed structures, well designed frame structures
thrown out of plumb. Damage great in substantial buildings, with partial collapse. Buildings shifted off
foundations.

X. Disastrous

Some well built wooden structures destroyed; most masonry and frame structures destroyed with
foundation. Rails bent.

XI. Very Disastrous

Few, if any masonry structures remain standing. Bridges destroyed. Rails bent greatly.

XII. Catastrophic

Total damage - Almost everything is destroyed. Lines of sight and level distorted. Objects thrown into the
air. The ground moves in waves or ripples. Large amounts of rock may move.

Why seismogram amplitudes vary with

distance from the earthquake focus:
(1) Geometric Spreading: For hypocentral
distance Rh, amplitude decreases as 1/Rh
for body waves; for epicentral distance Re,
amplitude decreases as 1/(Re)1/2 for
surface waves.
(2) Anelastic attenuation: Friction in the
rock during seismic wave passage absorbs
energy from the seismic wave, decreasing
the wave energy as e-X where is the
attenuation coefficient and X is the
distance traveled by the wave.

Richters Idea
(Bulletin of the Seismological Society of
America, 1935)

Wave amplitudes from an earthquake decay

with distance from a source. Extrapolate
those amplitudes to some prescribed
distance from the source (Richter used 100
km). The log10 of the extrapolated
amplitude at 100 km is used as the measure
of earthquake size.

Richters Magnitude Scale

Richter knew that there was a tremendous

variation in the sizes of seismic events. Since
he was an amateur astronomer, he knew that
base-10 logarithms could reduce a wide range
of numbers to a manageable size. Thus, he
based his magnitude scale on base-10
logarithms. Furthermore, he adjusted his
scale so that the largest expected magnitude
is about 10 and the smallest is about 0.

Richters Method and the Wood-Anderson

Seismograph
Seismograph operation: Light from a source
would travel to the instrument, reflect off of
a mirror that would rotate as the ground
moved horizontally, and then return and
expose a piece of photographic paper.

Seismograp
hs
Seismographs instruments that record
earthquake waves
When waves from an earthquake come into
contact with a seismograph, a weight
suspended from a support will remain
motionless as Earth moves (providing a
reference point) and can draw a diagram
showing Earths motion
Seismograms the electronically
recorded ground motion from a
seismograph

Seismographs

Seismogram
s

Earthquake
Surface Waves seismic
waves that travel
Waves

along Earths surface, most destructive seismic

waves
Surface waves travel along the ground and cause
the ground and anything resting upon it to move
P waves push-pull waves; they push
(compress) and pull (expand) rocks in the
direction the waves travel
S waves shake the particles at right angles to
their direction of travel
Gases and liquids do not transmit s waves, but do
transmit p waves
A seismogram shows all three types of waves: the
p waves arrive first, then the s waves, followed by
the surface waves last

Surface
Waves

P Waves

S Waves

Seismoscope - Zhang Heng (79-139AD)

The Leonardo da Vinci of ancient China was

Zhang Heng(79-139AD)

Zhang Heng believed that earthquakes were

caused by wind and air;
To indicate the direction of a distant earthquake, Zhang's device
dropped a bronze ball from one of eight tubed projections shaped
as dragon heads; the ball fell into the mouth of a corresponding
metal object shaped as a toad, each representing direction in
which the seismic wave was travelling. His device had eight
mobile arms (eight directions) connected with cranks having
catch mechanisms at the periphery. When tripped, a crank and
right angle lever would raise a dragon head and release a ball
supported by the lower jaw of the dragon head. The seismoscope
device also included a vertical pin passing through a slot in the
crank, a catch device, a pivot on a projection, a sling suspending
the pendulum, an attachment for the sling, and a horizontal bar

Teleseismomet
ers

The modern broad-band seismograph can record a

very broad range of frequencies. It consists of a
small 'proof mass', confined by electrical forces,
driven by sophisticated electronics. As the earth
moves, the electronics attempt to hold the mass
steady through a feedback circuit. The amount of
force necessary to achieve this is then recorded. In
most designs the electronics holds a mass
motionless relative to the frame. This device is
called a "Force Balance Accelerometer". It measures
acceleration instead of velocity of ground
movement. Basically, the distance between the
mass and some part of the frame is measured very
precisely, by a linear variable differential
transformer. Some instruments use a linear variable
differential capacitor). That measurement is then
amplified by electronic amplifiers attached to parts
of an electronic negative feedback loop. One of the
amplified currents from the negative feedback loop

Strong-motion seismometers
-Accelerograph
Anaccelerographis recorder that uses an accelerometer, which as
you can tell from the name detects the acceleration of the ground.
Accelerometers are much less sensitive than seismometers, but have
a much greater range, detecting 2g or more of ground acceleration
(things start flying off the ground at 1g, when gravity is overcome).
By comparison a seismometer will clip at full scale if you tap it too
hard with your finger.

So, seismometers are good for detecting very small levels of ground
motion (from very small or very distant events), and accelerometers
are good at recording strong ground motion that is potentially
damaging at the recording location. We will often install an
earthquake recording station using both types of sensor to get the
best of both worlds.

Geophone
Ageophoneis a device that
converts ground movement
(velocity) intovoltage, which
may be recorded at a
recording station. The
deviationof this measured
voltage from the base line is
called theseismicresponse
and is analyzed for structure
of the earth. The
termgeophonederives from
the Greek word " (ge) "
meaning "earth" and "phone"

Modern recording
Today, the most common recorder is a
computer with an analog-to-digital
converter, a disk drive and an internet
connection. Many observatories now use
computers. For amateurs, a PC with a sound
card and software is adequate, and saves a
lot of paper. An algorithm often used to
eliminate insignificant observations uses a
short-term average and a long term
average. When the short term average is
statistically significant compared to the long
term average, the event is worth recording

Physical
Seismology
Our knowledge about the
structure of the Earth
deeper than several km
was gained almost
exclusively using
seismological methods.
Seismologists use seismic
rays to look into the
interior of the Earth in the
same way doctors use X-

Tomography
Seismic tomography
gives us 3-D or 2-D
images of shallow
and deep structures
in the Earth. They
may be obtanied
using earthquake
data, or explosions
(controlled source
seismology). These
methods are also
widely used in
explorational

Forensics on a Global
Scale
Seismographs not only tell us when and where
an earthquake occurred.
Other vibrations can also be recorded:
Rockfalls (if close enough to recording
station),
Mine and Quarry Blasts,
Nuclear Explosions

Geophysicists can use seismograph records to

substantiate or dispel reported events that could
produce significant vibrations. For example,
nuclear test events can be detected

Significant nuclear test sites:

1945-1998

Comparison of signatures of nuclear

test explosion and an earthquake

Some Notable
Earthquakes