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EARTH 20
Assignment 2: Plate Boundaries, Earthquakes, and Faulting
1. Fault Types. The image below is of a crustal block that has undergone three faulting events.
Label each type of fault based on the sense of motion. Include labels of the hanging walls and
footwalls.
2. Plate boundaries and associated characteristics (e.g. stresses, seismicity). Fill out the table
below.
Plate Type of Main Type(s) Size of Relative Examples of
Boundary Stresses of Fault(s) Earthquakes Depth of Plate Boundary
Earthquakes
Mid-Atlantic
Divergent
Ridge
Transform shear shallow
Convergent –
continent- Large (M 8+)
continent
Convergent -
Reverse/Thrust
subduction
3. Figure 3.25 from your textbook is shown below. Note the location of the epicenters for
both earthquakes. Based off of what you know in terms of the global distribution of
earthquake epicenters, what is unique about the Central Virginia epicenter here? In the
figure below, why is the region over which shaking was reported for the M5.8 Central
Virginia earthquake (green dots) so much broader relative to that of the M6.0 Central
California earthquake (red dots)?
4. Seismic wave phases and propagation. Complete the following chart.
ORDER OF NAME CLASS MODE OF PROPOGATION MEDIA THAT ALLOW
ARRIVAL OF OF (DESCRIBE THE WAVE’S WAVE PROPOGATION (e.g.
WAVE WAVE MOTION) solids, liquids, gases?)
3 Love
Wave
S-Wave
Body
4 Surface
5. P and S arrival times and epicentral distance. In the seismogram below, locate the P and S
arrival times. Then, indicate their corresponding times on the plot below by denoting a 'Tp' (P-
arrival) and a 'Ts' (S-arrival) at their respective locations. Be sure to include the values you
measure for these times (e.g. note how the maximum amplitude is indicated on the plot).
a. The distance from the seismometer which recorded the ground motion shown in the
seismogram above to the earthquake epicenter is referred to as the epicentral distance, D.
Using the values you measured above for the arrival times (Ts and Tp), calculate the epicentral
distance D, using the following formula,
where Vp and Vs are the P and S wave velocities, respectively. You may assume the following
values: Vp=7.0 [km/s] and Vs=3.5 [km/s]. Report to 2 significant figures.
6. Plate Boundary, Slip Rate, and Displacement. Refer to the map in the figure below. An
approximate trace of the San Andreas Fault is shown (black line), with the relative directions of
slip indicated by the arrows on opposite sides. The yellow X indicates the halfway point between
San Francisco and Los Angeles. A scale has been provided in the lower left hand corner.
a. The average reported slip rate for the San Andreas Fault is 3.3 [cm/yr]. This means that
the “gap” between two cities on opposite sides of the fault is closing by 3.3 cm each year.
Assuming this slip rate to be constant and uniform across the entire length of the fault,
estimate the amount of time in millions of years it will take for Los Angeles and San
Francisco to undergo the amount of offset required for the two cities merge (San
Frangeles? Los Angelicso?)
b. An average slip of about 5.0 m (16 ft) along the San Andreas Fault (SAF) was associated
with the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake that killed people and resulted in
casualties. Assuming that all displacement along the SAF was produced by Earth motion
of this magnitude (5.0 m offset per earthquake), how many earthquakes must have
occurred in order to account for the total displacement?
**Note 1: The significant figures reported in your solutions should be consistent with those provided in the problem.
** Note 2: To obtain the amount of offset between SF and LA, you should measure the distance along the
fault (black line) in different segments, and then add these individual measurements together.
The following three exercises deal with unit conversions, dimensional analysis, seismic moment, and a
conceptual grasp on physical units. Your significant figures for all three problems should be consistent.
7. How much does an average person weigh in Newtons?
Weight is the amount (or magnitude) of gravitational force acting on a particle/body and is measured in
physical units of Newtons, where 1 [Newton] = 1 [kg*m/s2]. It is often written as:
𝑤 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑔
where a person's weight, w, is equal to the product of the mass, m, times the magnitude of gravitational
acceleration, g (where g=9.8 m/s2).
Exercise: A person weighs 150 lbs, what is that in kilograms? What is that equivalent to in Newtons?
Use the following conversion: (1.00 lb = 0.450 kg).
8. The amount of work, W, done on an object with an applied constant force is defined as the
product of the amount of displacement, d, times the amount of force, F:𝑊 = 𝐹 ∗ 𝑑.
Exercise: A fork lift moves 34.0 m carrying a 1.02 x 103 N box across the warehouse floor. How
much work, W is done by the fork lift? Note the following conversion: 1 [Joule] = 1 [N*m]. This
means that 1 Joule is equal to the energy expended (or work done) in applying a force of 1
Newton over a distance of 1 meter.
The seismic moment, M0, is a measurement of the energy released in an earthquake. It is given by the
following, M0 = μ * A * s, where μ is the shear modulus* or rigidity*, A is the area of the fault plane
given by A = L x w, and s is the average slip on the fault. For this problem, assume you have a fault
plane of length, L=5.00 x 102 km, width, w=3.00 x 102 km, and average slip, s=5.00 m. For the Earth's
crust, the shear modulus is μ=3.00 x 1010 [N/m2]; use this value. With the provided information,
calculate the seismic moment, M0 in Joules. (*Supplementary note below).
To get an idea of how much energy this is, compare the seismic moment value you calculated
with the amount of energy expended by the forklift in Joules (Exercise 8) by taking a ratio of
those two values. Report your answer in the space below.
*Supplementary Note: So what is this shear modulus or rigidity? What exactly does μ represent? For a given material, this
parameter, μ describes the amount of strain it will undergo with a given amount of applied shear stress. This might not be
entirely intuitive to you at this point, but you can think of it like this: the larger the μ value, the more rigid it is, and vice-versa.
Therefore, for a given amount of applied shear stress,
• a medium with a larger μ will undergo less strain
• a medium with a smaller μ will undergo more strain.
9. Earthquake Effects. Describe four of the primary earthquake effects and give an
example for each. [Chapter 3 of textbook]
