Earthquake

Earthquake ( แผ่นดินไหว )

    An earthquake (also known as a quake , tremor or temblor ) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.

    Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe. The more numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5 reported by national seismological observatories are measured mostly on the local magnitude scale, also referred to as the Richter scale.These two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity.Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly almost imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause serious damage over larger areas, depending on their depth.The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, although there is no limit to the possible magnitude.The most recent large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or larger was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011 (as of October 2012), and it was the largest Japanese earthquake since records began.Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being equal. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity.

Naturally occurring earthquakes

     Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increase the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of stick-slip behaviour. Once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault, releasing the stored energy. This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves , frictional heating of the fault surface, and cracking of the rock, thus causing an earthquake.This process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory .It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy.Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction.Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic potential energy and raise its temperature, though these changes are negligible compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from the Earth's deep interior.

Induced seismicity

     While most earthquakes are caused by movement of the Earth's tectonic plates , human activity can also produce earthquakes.Four main activities contribute to this phenomenon: storing large amounts of water behind a dam (and possibly building an extremely heavy building ), drilling and injecting liquid into wells , and by coal mining and oil drilling. Perhaps the best known example is the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China's Sichuan Province in May; this tremor resulted in 69,227 fatalities and is the 19th deadliest earthquake of all time.The Zipingpu Dam is believed to have fluctuated the pressure of the fault 1,650 feet (503 m) away; this pressure probably increased the power of the earthquake and accelerated the rate of movement for the fault.The greatest earthquake in Australia's history is also claimed to be induced by humanity, through coal mining. The city of Newcastle was built over a large sector of coal mining areas.The earthquake has been reported to be spawned from a fault that reactivated due to the millions of tonnes of rock removed in the mining process.

Effects of earthquakes

Shaking and ground rupture

    Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures.The severity of the local effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude , the distance from the epicenter , and the local geological and geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave propagation.The ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration.Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of the fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes.Ground rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams , bridges and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any which are likely to break the ground surface within the life of the structure.

Landslides and avalanches

     Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, coastal wave attack, and wildfires, can produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard.Landslide danger may persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.

Fires

      Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines.In the event of water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started.For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were caused by fire than by the earthquake itself.

Soil liquefaction

      Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material (such as sand) temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction may cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits. For example, in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, soil liquefaction caused many buildings to sink into the ground, eventually collapsing upon themselves.

Tsunami

         Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or abrupt movement of large volumes of water.In the open ocean the distance between wave crests can surpass 100 kilometers (62 mi), and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one hour.Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour (373–497 miles per hour), depending on water depth.Large waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas in a matter of minutes.Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across open ocean and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.

Human impacts

An earthquake may cause injury and loss of life, road and bridge damage, general property damage (which may or may not be covered by earthquake insurance ), and collapse or destabilization (potentially leading to future collapse) of buildings.The aftermath may bring disease , lack of basic necessities, and higher insurance premiums.