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Earthquake

About

An earthquake is a Natural Hazard (disaster) caused by sudden release of strain energy between the tectonic plates on the earth's crust1 causing tremors, vibrations, landslides, etc.

Tip

The scientific study of earthquakes, and the propagation of seismic waves within the Earth is called Seismology.

The origin of the movement is called the Focus or Hypocenter of the earthquake. The vibrations travel outward, causing (wave-like) disturbance across all directions from the epicenter causing damage to lives, ecosystems, properties,

How is Hypocenter different from Epicenter?

Hypocenter is the point at which the earthquake originates, in 3D space. The vibrations travel in all 3 dimensions (6 directions).

Epicenter is the hypocenter when projected onto the surface of the planet for mapping purposes. The impact is not measured in the depth dimension, rather the XY-Plane of the (Mercator)projection.

As one moves away from the Hypocenter, the (seismic)wave is dampened, and hence the intensity of damage is also reduced.

Impacts

An earthquake is a dangerous natural hazard / disaster, and can cause a multitude of damage to Structures, Environment, and the Economy.

  1. Environmental Impacts
    1. Soil Liquefaction
  2. Structural Impacts
    1. Sway
    2. Deformation
    3. Twisting
    4. Brittle failure (Load Bearing Structures)
    5. Ductile Failure (RCC Structures)

See Also

References

  1. Earthquakes: Discovery Geology - Earth hazards, on bgs.ac.uk (6 February 2024) ↩