ECONOM 1051 Lecture Notes - Hypocenter
Document Summary
What is an earthquake: vibration of the earth produced by the rapid release of energy from rocks that rupture because they have been subjected to stress that exceeds their strength, energy released radiates in all directions from its source, the focus and energy waves propagate through the earth in the form of seismic (elastic) waves, sensitive instruments called seismometers record the event, usually caused by sudden movements on faults; don"t happen at the surface of the earth because there"s not enough pressure. Transverse (slower): surface waves cause the most damage due to undulations in ground (structural damage, rayleigh waves, love waves, amount of structural damage attributed to earthquake vibration depends on intensity and duration of the vibrations, nature of the material upon which the structure rests, design of the structure, destruction from seismic vibrations, ground shaking regions within 20 to 50 kilometers of the epicenter will experience about the same intensity of ground shaking.
