4/13/2015

TheScienceofEarthquakes

EarthquakeHazardsProgram

TheScienceofEarthquakes
OriginallywrittenbyLisaWaldforTheGreenFrogNews

Whatisanearthquake?
Anearthquakeiswhathappenswhentwoblocksoftheearthsuddenlyslippast
oneanother.Thesurfacewheretheyslipiscalledthefaultorfaultplane.The
locationbelowtheearthssurfacewheretheearthquakestartsiscalledthe
hypocenter,andthelocationdirectlyaboveitonthesurfaceoftheearthiscalled
theepicenter.
Sometimesanearthquakehasforeshocks.Thesearesmallerearthquakesthat
happeninthesameplaceasthelargerearthquakethatfollows.Scientistscant
tellthatanearthquakeisaforeshockuntilthelargerearthquakehappens.The
largest,mainearthquakeiscalledthemainshock.Mainshocksalwayshave
aftershocksthatfollow.Thesearesmallerearthquakesthatoccurafterwardsin
thesameplaceasthemainshock.Dependingonthesizeofthemainshock,
aftershockscancontinueforweeks,months,andevenyearsafterthemainshock!

Whatcausesearthquakesandwheredotheyhappen?
Theearthhasfourmajorlayers:theinnercore,outercore,mantleandcrust.
(figure2)Thecrustandthetopofthemantlemakeupathinskinonthe
surfaceofourplanet.Butthisskinisnotallinonepieceitismadeupof
manypieceslikeapuzzlecoveringthesurfaceoftheearth.(figure3)Not
onlythat,butthesepuzzlepieceskeepslowlymovingaround,slidingpast
oneanotherandbumpingintoeachother.Wecallthesepuzzlepieces
tectonicplates,andtheedgesoftheplatesarecalledtheplateboundaries.
Theplateboundariesaremadeupofmanyfaults,andmostofthe
earthquakesaroundtheworldoccuronthesefaults.Sincetheedgesofthe
platesarerough,theygetstuckwhiletherestoftheplatekeepsmoving.
Finally,whentheplatehasmovedfarenough,theedgesunstickononeof
thefaultsandthereisanearthquake.

Whydoestheearthshakewhenthereisanearthquake?
Whiletheedgesoffaultsarestucktogether,andtherestoftheblockis
moving,theenergythatwouldnormallycausetheblockstoslidepastone
anotherisbeingstoredup.Whentheforceofthemovingblocksfinally
overcomesthefrictionofthejaggededgesofthefaultanditunsticks,allthat
storedupenergyisreleased.Theenergyradiatesoutwardfromthefaultinall
directionsintheformofseismicwaveslikeripplesonapond.Theseismic
wavesshaketheearthastheymovethroughit,andwhenthewavesreachthe
earthssurface,theyshakethegroundandanythingonit,likeourhousesand
us!(seeP&SWaveinset)

Howareearthquakesrecorded?
Earthquakesarerecordedbyinstrumentscalledseismographs.Therecordingtheymakeiscalledaseismogram.(figure4)The
seismographhasabasethatsetsfirmlyintheground,andaheavyweightthathangsfree.Whenanearthquakecausesthegroundto
shake,thebaseoftheseismographshakestoo,butthehangingweightdoesnot.Insteadthespringorstringthatitishangingfrom
absorbsallthemovement.Thedifferenceinpositionbetweentheshakingpartoftheseismographandthemotionlesspartiswhatis
recorded.

Howdoscientistsmeasurethesizeofearthquakes?
Thesizeofanearthquakedependsonthesizeofthefaultandtheamountofsliponthefault,butthatsnotsomethingscientistscan
simplymeasurewithameasuringtapesincefaultsaremanykilometersdeepbeneaththeearthssurface.Sohowdotheymeasurean
earthquake?Theyusetheseismogramrecordingsmadeontheseismographsatthesurfaceoftheearthtodeterminehowlargethe

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php

1/2

4/13/2015

TheScienceofEarthquakes

earthquakewas(figure5).Ashortwigglylinethatdoesntwiggleverymuchmeansasmall
earthquake,andalongwigglylinethatwigglesalotmeansalargeearthquake.Thelength
ofthewiggledependsonthesizeofthefault,andthesizeofthewiggledependsonthe
amountofslip.
Thesizeoftheearthquakeis
calleditsmagnitude.Thereisone
magnitudeforeachearthquake.
Scientistsalsotalkaboutthe
intensityofshakingfroman
earthquake,andthisvaries
dependingonwhereyouareduring
theearthquake.

Howcanscientiststell
wheretheearthquakehappened?
Seismogramscomeinhandyforlocatingearthquakestoo,andbeingabletoseethePwave
andtheSwaveisimportant.YoulearnedhowP&Swaveseachshakethegroundin
differentwaysastheytravelthroughit.PwavesarealsofasterthanSwaves,andthisfact
iswhatallowsustotellwhereanearthquakewas.Tounderstandhowthisworks,lets
comparePandSwavestolightningandthunder.Lighttravelsfasterthansound,soduringa
thunderstormyouwillfirstseethelightningandthenyouwillhearthethunder.Ifyouare
closetothelightning,thethunderwillboomrightafterthelightning,butifyouarefaraway
fromthelightning,youcancountseveralsecondsbeforeyouhearthethunder.Thefurther
youarefromthestorm,thelongeritwilltakebetweenthelightningandthethunder.
Pwavesarelikethelightning,andSwavesarelikethethunder.ThePwavestravelfaster
andshakethegroundwhereyouarefirst.ThentheSwavesfollowandshaketheground
also.Ifyouareclosetotheearthquake,thePandSwavewillcomeonerightaftertheother,
butifyouarefaraway,therewillbemoretimebetweenthetwo.Bylookingattheamountof
timebetweenthePandSwaveonaseismogramrecordedonaseismograph,scientistscan
tellhowfarawaytheearthquakewasfromthatlocation.However,theycanttellinwhat
directionfromtheseismographtheearthquakewas,onlyhowfarawayitwas.Iftheydrawacircleonamaparoundthestationwhere
theradiusofthecircleisthedetermineddistancetotheearthquake,theyknowtheearthquakeliessomewhereonthecircle.But
where?
Scientiststhenuseamethodcalledtriangulationto
determineexactlywheretheearthquakewas(figure6).It
iscalledtriangulationbecauseatrianglehasthreesides,
andittakesthreeseismographstolocateanearthquake.
Ifyoudrawacircleonamaparoundthreedifferent
seismographswheretheradiusofeachisthedistance
fromthatstationtotheearthquake,theintersectionof
thosethreecirclesistheepicenter!

Canscientistspredictearthquakes?
No,anditisunlikelytheywilleverbeabletopredict
them.Scientistshavetriedmanydifferentwaysof
predictingearthquakes,butnonehavebeensuccessful.
Onanyparticularfault,scientistsknowtherewillbeanotherearthquakesometimeinthefuture,buttheyhavenowayoftellingwhenit
willhappen.

Istheresuchathingasearthquakeweather?Cansomeanimalsorpeopletellwhenan
earthquakeisabouttohit?
Thesearetwoquestionsthatdonotyethavedefiniteanswers.Ifweatherdoesaffectearthquakeoccurrence,orifsomeanimalsor
peoplecantellwhenanearthquakeiscoming,wedonotyetunderstandhowitworks.

Sharethispage:

Facebook

Twitter

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/eqscience.php

Google

Email

2/2