Earthquake Information
Earthquake- result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The
frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time is known as
seismicity or seismic activity of an area.
Earthquakes are measured with aseismometer; a device which also records is known as a seismograph.
Generally earthquakes with magnitude 3 or lower are mostly imperceptible and those with magnitude 7
cause serious damage over large areas.
Other important critetias when analyzing an earthquake are the intensity of shaking (measured on the
Mercalli scale) and the depth of the earthquake :the more shallow the earthquake, the more damage to
structures (all else being equal).
Sometimes when earthquakes happen a ratter “spectacular” phenomenon apears: displacing of the
ground. When a large earthquake epicenter is located offshore, the seabed sometimes suffers sufficient
displacement to cause a tsunami. The shaking in earthquakes can also trigger landslides and
occasionally volcanic activity.
Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geologicalfaults, but also by volcanic activity, landslides,
mine blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter.
Rule of thumb: On the average, the kilometer distance to the earthquake is the number of seconds
between the P and S wave times [Link] deviations are caused by inhomogeneities of subsurface
structure. By such analyses of seismograms the Earth's core was located in 1913 by Beno Gutenberg
Earthquake Facts
Earthquake Size and frequency of occurrence facts:
each year about 500.000 earthquakes take place
almost 100,000 of these can actually be felt
minor earthquakes occur around the world in places like California and Alaska,
Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Iran Pakistan, the Azores in Portugal, Turkey, New
Zealand, Greece, Italy, and Japan, but earthquakes can occur almost anywhere.
today there are thousands of seismic stations compared to 350 in 1931.
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
the Pacific Ring of Fire is a 40,000-km-long, horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific
seismic belt,here most of the world's earthquakes (90%) take place
seismologists think that a single quake in a populated area like Teheran or Mexico City may
claim the lives of up to 3 million people.
Locating Earthquakes Facts:
Earthquakes can be recorded up to great distances
seismic waves travel through the whole Earth's interior.
every earthquake produces different types of seismic waves
in solid rock waves travel at about 6 to 7 km per second;
the deeper the earthquake the faster: up to ~13 km/s
the first waves of a distant earth quake arrive at an observatory via the Earth's mantle.
earthquakes are categorized by the place where they occur
the world is divided into 754 Flinn-Engdahl regions basede on geographical boundaries and
seismic activity
Earthquake Prediction Facts:
predicting earthquakes is oftenly associated with: seismicity patterns, electromagnetic fields ,
ground movement, weather conditions and unusual clouds, radon or hydrogen gas content of soil
or ground water, water level in wells, animal behavior, and the phases of the moon
another criteria used to make predictions is the natural randomness of earthquakes and frequent
activity in certain areas.
the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council it’s an official earthquake prediction
evaluation council.
the facts that scientific evaluations of prediction claims look for are :a specific location or area, a
specific span of time, a specific magnitude range, a specific probability of occurrence
Prediction Methods:
Emission of radon as a quake precursor was dismissed by most seismologists until recently
Giampaolo Giuliani the technician who predicted the L’Aquila earthquake using the emission of
radon presented his research to the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco
VAN is a method of earthquake prediction named after the researchers' initials.
The main idea of the VAN method is the detection of "seismic electric signals" (SES) via a
telemetric network of conductive metal rods inserted in the ground
This method is continually perfected researchers are claiming to be able to predict earthquakes
of magnitude larger than 5, within 100 km of epicentral location, within 0.7 units of magnitude and
in a 2-hour to 11-day time window.
Foreshocks are medium-sized earthquakes that precede major quakes.
The "scaling" approach from physics was used to develop a mathematical function to
characterize earthquakes of a wide range of magnitudes to learn from smaller magnitude
earthquakes about larger magnitude earthquakes.
This memory effect not only provides a clue to understanding the observed clustering of
earthquakes, but also suggests that delays in earthquake occurrences
One possible method for predicting earthquakes, although it has not yet been applied,
is fractoluminescence.
An earthquake warning system is a system of accelerometers, communication, computers, and
alarms that is devised for regional notification of a substantial earthquake while it is in progress.
Japan, Taiwan and Mexico all have earthquake early-warning systems.
Prediction attempts:
China: An increase in foreshock activity (combined with purported indications like ground water
levels and strange animal behavior) enabled the successful evacuation of a million people one
day before the February 4, 1975 M7.3 Haicheng earthquake the China State Seismological
Bureau.
The Chinese government failed to predict the July 28, 1976 M7.8 Tangshan earthquake, which
put Chinese earthquake prediction research in doubt for several years.
The Chinese government claimed successful prediction of the November 29, 1999,
M5.4 Gushan-Pianling Earthquake in Haicheng city and Xiuyan city, Liaoning Province.
Japan failed to result in a prediction of the Great Hanshin earthquake which devastated the city
of Kobe in 1995.
An earthquake predicted by a scientist to occur on June 28, 1981, in Lima, Peru, failed to
materialize.
The goal of USGS was to predict a 6.0 magnitude earthquake near Parkfield, California between
1985 and 1993. Despite the prediction, such an earthquake did not occur until after the end of the
prediction window, in 2004.
A "seismic gap" in the Loma Prieta area was identified but was concluded that Loma Prieta was
due for an earthquake.
In 1989 Iben Browning predicted a major earthquake in the New Madrid fault zone of
southern Missouri but no earthquake occurred on those days or thereafter.
In early 2004, a group of scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, led by Dr. Vladimir
Keilis-Borok, predicted that a quake similar in strength to the San Simeon earthquake of 2003
would occur in a 12,000 square mile (31,100 km) area of Southern California by September of
that year. The odds were given as 50/[Link] predicted time window came and went with no
significant earthquake.
The Messina earthquake and tsunami took as many as 200,000 lives on December 28, 1908
in Sicily and Calabria
Earthquake History
Largest earthquakes by magnitude
Pos. Date Location Name Magnitude
1. May 22, 1960 Valdivia, Chile 1960 Valdivia earthquake 9.5
2. March 27, 1964 Prince William Sound, USA 1964 Alaska earthquake 9.2
3. December 26, Sumatra, Indonesia 2004 Indian Ocean 9.1
2004 earthquake
4. November 4, Kamchatka, Russia (then USSR) Kamchatka earthquakes 9.0
1952
5. August 13, Arica, Chile (then Peru) 1868 Arica earthquake 9.0
1868
6. January 26, Cascadia subduction 1700 Cascadia 9.0
1700 zone, Canada and USA earthquake
7. February 27, Maule, Chile 2010 Chile earthquake 8.8
2010
8. January 31, Ecuador–Colombia 1906 Ecuador-Colombia 8.8
1906 earthquake
9. November 25, Sumatra, Indonesia 1833 Sumatra 8.8
1833 earthquake
10. February 4, Rat Islands, Alaska, USA 1965 Rat Islands 8.7
1965 earthquake
11. November 1, Lisbon, Portugal 1755 Lisbon earthquake 8.7
1755
12. July 8, 1730 Valparaiso, Chile 1730 Valparaiso 8.7
earthquake
13. March 28, 2005 Sumatra, Indonesia 2005 Sumatra 8.6
earthquake
14. March 9, 1957 Andreanof Islands, Alaska, USA 1957 Andreanof Islands 8.6
earthquake
15. August 15, Assam, India – Tibet, China 1950 Medog earthquake 8.6
1950
16. September 12, Sumatra, Indonesia September 2007 8.5
2007 Sumatra earthquakes
17. October 13, Kuril Islands, Russia (USSR) 1963 Kuril Islands 8.5
1963 earthquake
18. February 1, Banda Sea, Indonesia (Dutch East 1938 Banda Sea 8.5
1938 Indies) earthquake
19. February 3, Kamchatka, Russia (USSR) Kamchatka earthquakes 8.5
1923
20. November 11, Atacama Region, Chile 1922 Vallenar 8.5
1922 earthquake
21. May 24, 1751 Concepción, Chile (Kingdom of Chile) 1751 Concepción 8.5
earthquake
22. October 20, Lima, Peru (Viceroyalty of Peru) 1687 Peru earthquake 8.5
1687
23. December 16, Valdivia, Chile(Kingdom of Chile) 1575 Valdivia earthquake 8.5
1575
Canureci Cristina
Comunicare si Relatii Publice
Anul II
