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EARTH STRUCTURE & DYNAMICS
EARTHQUAKE SEISMOLOGY PRACTICALS
- A large earthquake is recorded well at a three-component seismic station in Hawaii (co-
ordinates 205˚E, 20˚N). The epicentral distance was measured, by examining the arrival
times of the P, PP, S, Rayleigh and Love phases, and found to be 33.28˚. The direction
of arrival of the waves was measured, using the amplitudes of S waves on the horizontal
components and the phases of the Rayleigh waves, and the azimuth of the earthquake
from the station was found to be 50.64˚.
Using spherical trigonometry, calculate the longitude and latitude of the earthquake and
plot it on Figure 1. The formulae you require are:
a = cos
(cos b cos c + sin b sin c cos A )
C = cos
! 1 cos c^!^ cos^ a cos b
sin a sin b
Spherical geometry for great-circle paths
- Sketch a cross section of the Earth showing the major seismic boundaries and sketch the
following waves: PKIKP, PKiKP, PKJKP, sS, Sg, Pn, PS.
- Your are provided with three-component teleseismic seismograms, with clock marks at
minute intervals, for two earthquakes, Earthquake 1 and Earthquake 2. Determine their
epicentral distances.
To do this, take a long strip of paper and lay it on the seismograms one-by-one, marking
the positions of the phases you can see. The following phases are clear:
Phase EQ 1 EQ 2
° P √ √ (very faint!)
° PP √ √
° SKS √ √
° S √ √
° PS √
° SS √
° G (Love) √ √
° R (Rayleigh) √ √
Note that P arrivals and R are expected to be clearest on the vertical component. For the
vertical record of Earthquake 1, R is the strongest arrival, P is second strongest, PP third
strongest and S fourth strongest. S arrivals and G are expected to be clearest on the
horizontal components.
You are provided with a Gutenberg-Richter travel time chart for earthquakes at 25 km
depth. This is a chart of time in minutes (vertical axis) : epicentral distance in degrees
(horizontal axis). The vertical axis is at the same scale as your seismograms.
Lay your marked paper strip on the chart and estimate the epicentral distance of each
earthquake.
- Measure the magnitudes of Earthquakes 1 and 2 using the surface waves. The equation
is:
M
S = log A! log A 0
MS = surface-wave magnitude
A = amplitude in mm of surface waves with period ~ 20 s
!˚ = epicentral distance of the earthquake,
log A 0 (!˚) = logarithm of the amplitude of a magnitude zero earthquake at distance !˚
Use the zero-earthquake amplitude table given below to compute log A 0
- The table below gives the numbers of earthquakes Ms > 7.1 for the world. In the right
most two columns write down the cumulative numbers of earthquakes > each magnitude
range. Plot a graph of cumulative number : magnitude on semi-log graph paper. (Assign
the average magnitude to the earthquakes in each magnitude band, and plot magnitude on
the linear scale).
< Ms < # eqs
(MS)
#eqs (Mw
used for 10
largest eqs)
Cum. # eqs
(MS)
Cum. # eqs
(Mw used for
10 largest
eqs)
If the events are distributed fractally they will follow the formula:
log 1 0 ! N = a " bM
where Σ N is the cumulative number > magnitude M and a and b are constants. The value
of b for the world is almost exactly = 1. Draw a best-fit line with slope - 1 passing through
the points for the smallest magnitudes. These points are dependent on larger numbers of
earthquakes than the points for the largest magnitudes, and thus they are more reliable.
Your write-up should include the following:
- A table showing your data;
- Your “ b - value” plot;
- A 300-word write-up describing your results. This should include:
a. a description of how the data are distributed, whether they fit both the low-
and high-magnitude ends of the plot well, a) for MS and b) for MW;
b. suggested reasons for your observations.
Marks will be given for evidence of clear understanding of the goodness-of-fit of the data
in the low- and high-magnitude ranges, and for critical comment that illustrates
understanding of the relevant interpretive issues.
- A system where a series is generated by inputting the output from a previous step has the
potential to behave chaotically. Thus, natural systems have this potential, as their
evolution following any point in time is dependent upon their state at that point.
Chaotic systems are very sensitive to starting conditions and, although their state may
vary within certain bounds and have structure, can only be predicted exactly a short time
into the future. The weather is a well-known example of a chaotic system. However, the
weather is a very complicated system. What is less well known is that even extremely
simple systems can behave chaotically. This is an exercise designed to increase your
understanding of chaos and provoke thoughts about what implications it has for
earthquake occurrence and prediction.
Work in pairs for this exercise.
You are provided with four graphs of the parabolic function y = 4λx(1-x), for λ = 0.7,
0.785, 0.87 and 0.9. Also drawn on the graphs is the line x = y.
- Starting with the graph for λ = 0.7, draw a line vertically upwards from the x-axis at
x = 0.04 until it reaches the parabola.
- Note the value of y. Your partner will simultaneously plot a graph of step # : y-value.
(Adjust the axes on the paper to give room to go up to 30 steps.)
- Your value of y at this point (the "output") will become your next value of x (the
"input"). In order to make it easy to continue, draw a line horizontally from the point
of intersection with the parabola until it intersects the line y = x. Then draw a second
vertical line to the parabola from that intersection point.
- Go to 2
Continue repeating steps 2 - 4 until the resultant pattern is clear.
Repeat this exercise for the other three graphs. How do the four graphs of step # : y-
value differ? When the whole class has finished all four graphs, compare all the graphs
of step # : y-value. How similar are they for each of the four values of λ?
This exercise illustrates the different types of behaviour that can occur when what
happens next is dependent on what the situation is now. What implications does it have
for earthquake occurrence? Stress in the Earth is governed by many factors ( e.g., rain,
nearby earthquakes, Earth tides, plate motions, heat flow) and thus how it varies is
complicated. Is this the reason why earthquakes are difficult to predict?
For more information on this fascinating subject, look at:
Hofstadter, D. R., Mathematical Chaos and Strange Attractors, Chapter 16, pp 364 - 395,
in Metamagical Themas, Basic Books Inc., New York, pp 852, 1985.
- You are provided with an equal-area transparent plot of seismogram polarities for the M
~ 6 earthquake of 1633:44 UTC 25 May 1980 at Mammoth Lakes, California. Use the
stereo net provided to plot nodal lines of the best-fitting double couple solution. These
Assuming all the events to have occurred at or close to the surface, use the Gutenberg-
Richter travel time chart to predict the time of arrival of the S waves and the first
Rayleigh waves. Figure 4 shows the seismograms high-pass filtered at 12.5 s. Mark the
first P-wave arrivals and the predicted first S- and Rayleigh-wave arrivals. How clear are
the S waves compared to the P waves for each event? How strong is the surface wave
train compared with the P-wave train for each event?
Using the blow-ups of the seismograms (Figures 5 - 8), measure the amplitudes of the
highest-amplitude body and surface wave for each event and tabulate the results.
Tabulate also the ratio of the logarithm of the surface-wave amplitude to the logarithm
of the body-wave amplitude. This is analogous to (but not the same as) the ratio of
MS:mb. Comment on your results.
You are provided with spectra for the P and S waves for each event (Figures 9 - 12). For
frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Hz, measure the amplitudes of the P and S waves.
Smooth the spectra by eye as you make the measurements. Plot graphs of
amp P
amp S
: frequency
for each of the four events, on the same piece of paper.
Use all your results to decide which events are nuclear explosions and which are
earthquakes. State clearly the evidence you have for your conclusions.
- Figure
- Figure
- Figure
- Figure
- Figure
