Earthquakes Boardworks Ltd 2001 Teachers Notes A slide

Earthquakes © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Teacher’s Notes A slide contains teacher’s notes wherever this icon is displayed To access these notes go to ‘Notes Page View’ (Power. Point 97) or ‘Normal View’ (Power. Point 2000). Notes Page View Normal View Flash Files A flash file has been embedded into the Power. Point slide wherever this icon is displayed – These files are not editable. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

What are earthquakes and where do they occur? DESTRUCTIVE CONSERVATIVE Earthquakes are vibrations caused by earth movements at plate boundaries and at major fault lines (cracks in the earth’s surface). They can occur at all 4 major plate boundaries but the most severe earthquakes are normally found at CONSERVATIVE and DESTRUCTIVE boundaries. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Why do earthquakes happen? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

How can we measure earthquakes? The Richter Scale This measures the magnitude of a tremor (how powerful it is) using an instrument called a seismograph. On the Richter Scale, magnitude is expressed in whole numbers and decimal fractions. Although the Richter Scale has no upper limit, the largest known shocks have had magnitudes in the 8. 8 to 8. 9 range. It is a logarithmic scale which means that a size ‘ 6’ on the Richter Scale is 10 times larger than a size ’ 5’ and 100 times larger than a size ‘ 4’. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Richter Scale The largest earthquake ever recorded was in Chile. It measured 8. 9 on the Richter Scale. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

The Japanese earthquake in Kobe (September 1995) measured 7. 2 on the Richter Scale. The Greek earthquake (June 1995) measured 6. 2 on the Richter Scale. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Richter Scale How many times greater was the Japanese earthquake? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Mercalli Scale This measures how much damage is caused by the earthquake based on observations. It is measured on a scale between I and XII. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Activity Design your own cartoon based on the Mercalli Scale descriptions below. I II IV V VI VII IX X XI XII Felt by almost no one. Felt by very few people. Tremor noticed by many, but they often do not realise it is an earthquake. Felt indoors by many. Feels like a truck has struck the building. Felt by everyone; many people are awakened. Swaying trees and poles may be observed. Felt by all; many people run outdoors. Furniture is moved. Everyone runs outdoors. Poorly built structures considerably damaged. Slight damage elsewhere. Specially designed structures damaged slightly, others collapsed. All buildings considerably damaged, many shift off foundations. Noticeable cracks in the ground. Many structures destroyed. Ground badly cracked. Almost all structures fall. Bridges wrecked. Total destruction. Waves seen on ground surfaces, objects are tumbled and tossed. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Focus Epicentre An earthquake has occurred along this fault line. Match the letter with the correct label. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

An earthquake has occurred in this area. Which area (the town or the forest) will receive the stronger earthquake? Which area will receive more damage from the earthquake? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

How can we limit earthquake damage? predict plan protect water levels can rise in wells and lakes because of cracks in the rock a tiltmeter can check any movement within the rocks 1. predict animals can act strangely before the earthquake foreshocks before the main quake can be detected by a seismometer © Boardworks Ltd 2001

advise people to plan for an earthquake (eg tell them to turn off the gas, find a ‘safe’ place in their homes, pack an emergency kit) make an emergency plan 2. plan enforce regulations to make some buildings earthquake proof organise regular ‘earthquake practices’ for offices and schools What should people pack in their emergency kit? Design a poster reminding people what to do in an earthquake. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

This is San Francisco in the U. S. A. Why does this skyscraper have a wide base? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Building Regulations in Earthquake Zones overlapping bricks strong lintels deep foundations What other measures would make buildings less likely to collapse in an earthquake? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Which shape of building would be most ‘earthquakes proof’? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

This is the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand. Sky Tower is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere and the twelfth tallest in the World. Sky Tower is 328 metres tall (more than 1, 076 feet); that's about 37 buses standing end on end! Sky Tower weighs 21 million kilos (20, 000 tonnes) which is equivalent to 6, 000 elephants. Problem – Auckland is in an earthquake zone. How could you make buildings such as the Sky Tower more ‘earthquake proof’? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

What they did… Construction facts Sky Tower is constructed from a high strength, high performance concrete. Sky Tower Auckland, New Zealand The main structure of Sky Tower is a reinforced concrete shaft measuring 12 metres in diameter. It is supported by eight reinforced concrete 'legs' at the base, connected to the shaft by a concrete collar and designed to spread force load. Sky Tower's foundations go down more than 15 metres. The tower was tested to see if it would withstand earthquakes. Analysis shows that an earthquake measuring 7. 0 on the Richter scale, located 40 kilometres from Sky Tower on the Kerepehi Fault, would leave Sky Tower essentially undamaged. In the extreme event of a magnitude 8. 0 earthquake occurring within 20 kilometres of the tower, analysis shows that Sky Tower would remain standing. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Turkish earthquake (August 1999) The magnitude of the earthquake was higher than first thought, measuring 7. 4 on the Richter Scale. Seismologists expect a large number of aftershocks, possibly for up to a year. These could bring down the damaged buildings. The search continues for survivors, but temperatures, 30ºC in the day and 10ºC at night are far from ideal. International rescue teams carry on searching for up to 72 hours after a disaster, but it has been known for people to survive much longer than this. The longest survival is 17 days by a Korean who chewed cardboard and drank his own urine before being rescued. Fact File (3 days after the earthquake) Dead : 10, 059 Missing : up to 35, 000 Injured : over 45, 000 You are in charge of the earthquake task force in Turkey. It is three days after the earthquake. Put these problems in the order of urgency. Explain your choice. Organise emergency camps and supplies for the survivors Bury the dead Organise emergency hospital to look after injured Search for more survivors Stabilise the damaged buildings © Boardworks Ltd 2001

If the epicentre of an earthquake is at ‘a’, which settlement will become the more damaged? Give reasons for your answer. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Factors affecting the damage caused by earthquakes size of the earthquake emergency services building design and construction time of day education physical landscape 1) Which factor/s do you think are the most important? 2) Which factors are related to the wealth of the country? 3) How can the education of the population affect the amount of damage caused by an earthquake? © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Read the following two slides. Compare the earthquake in Los Angeles (94) with the earthquake in Turkey (99) using the following table (you will need an atlas to help with your research). Why were there more deaths in the Turkish earthquake? number of deaths Los Angeles Turkey size of the earthquake time of day emergency services building design and construction education GNP (wealth) Internet research www. eqe. com © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Los Angeles Earthquake (1/94) Earthquake struck on holiday honouring Dr Martin Luther King…. 57 dead Fires burned out of control last night after a devastating earthquake measuring 6. 6 on the Richter Scale hit LA. Over fifty people have been killed including fourteen people trapped in a collapsed bock of flats, near the epicentre, in the district of Northridge. Reports suggest that over one thousand people are injured and the city is at a standstill. Freeways have buckled, trains have been derailed and the airport is closed. The earthquake struck before dawn and was felt over a wide area. The quake was felt as far away as Las Vegas, 125 miles away to the east! Emergency shelters have been set up by the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. In addition, twelve search and rescue teams and four medical teams have been sent to the quake zone. The teams are using dogs, sensitive listening devices and tunnelling equipment to look for survivors. © Boardworks Ltd 2001

Turkey Earthquake (8/99) Izmit buildings substandard The earthquake that hit Turkey last month has resulted in an estimated death toll of between 30, 000 and 40, 000. The earthquake that measured 7. 4 on the Richter Scale, struck at 3 am. It had an epicentre approximately 11 km to the south east of Izmit and it was felt as far as 320 km away. Turkey received international help to rescue thousands trapped in collapsed buildings. At least 20, 000 buildings collapsed or suffered heavy damage. The buildings which collapsed were mainly between 6 and 8 stories high and had been built in the last few years. Although new buildings in earthquake areas are supposed to follow the ‘Uniform Buildings Code’ (California), many of these buildings were poorly constructed in concrete and had unreinforced masonry walls. Concerns were also raised over the fact that the Tupras oil refinery in Korfez was allowed to be built so close to the North Anatolian Fault. The oil refinery burned out of control for several days after the earthquake. The fault has produced seven earthquakes with a magnitude of more than ‘ 7’ on the Richter Scale since 1939. © Boardworks Ltd 2001