Earthquake Hazards

USGS image

Exercise to complete

• Virtual Earthquake

Essential Reading

• Earthquakes - an on-line book from the US Geological Survey
• Plate Tectonics, the Cause of Earthquakes
• Animation showing earth movement during an earthquake
• Animations of fault motion
• More fault animations
• Seismic Waves, seismographs and seismograms
• Animations of earthquakes and seismographs
• Earthquake Monitoring
• Measuring the Size of an Earthquake
• Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (illustrated)
• How much bigger is a magnitude 8.7 earthquake than a magnitude 5.8 earthquake?

Earthquake Links

Recent events

• Magnitude 6, Northern Italy, 20 May 2012

Earthquakes in the News and the Media

• BBC Radio 4 - "Costing the Earth": listen to the topical science programme on earthquakes
• Earthquake Storms (BBC Horizon)

Recent earthquakes

• Recent Earthquakes World-wide.
• Recent Earthquakes World-wide (map). Links to earthquake details with seismograms.
• Recent Earthquakes in Great Britain
• Seismicity Maps of the World. Earthquake maps for each continent/region, showing 'quakes over the last 20 years

Earthquake software

• These excellent programs written by Alan L Jones are free to download and install on your own computer.
• Seismic/Eruption & Seismic Waves : "A program for the visualization of seismicity and volcanic activity in space and time" and "A program for the visualization of wave propagation"

Good general information and on-line courses on earthquakes

• Understanding Earthquakes
• About earthquakes
• USGS Fact Sheets - Earthquake Hazards (scroll down the page)

Video and audio

• Sound recordings from earthquakes
• Video footage from earthquakes

Seismic waves and seismographs

• Seismograph animation
• How a seismograph network works

Measuring the size of earthquakes

• Richter magnitude
• Earthquake intensity (modified Mercalli scale)

Earthquake engineering

• Make a Quake - and watch its effects on buildings
• Building safer structures

Earthquakes and society

• Earthquake Hazards and Preparedness (USGS)
• Public service information on preparing for earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Area. A lot of useful practical information on earthquake effects on transport, housing, and public awareness of hazards
• Pay a Little Now, or a Lot Later
• Other Earthquake Hazards (examples from San Francisco Bay)
  • Dam failure
  • Liquefaction
  • Hazardous Substance

Tsunami hazards

• Tsunami explained(BBC)

Forecasting, prediction and mitigation of earthquakes

• Earthquake Prediction Information (Pacific NW Seismic Network)
• Istanbul quake likely by 2030 (BBC)
• Quake Forecasting - An Emerging Capability (USGS)
• Hazard maps help save lives and property (USGS fact sheet)
• Earthquake Hazard Maps. You select the fault and the town, and the web page generates an earthquake hazard map for that part of California. Excellent example of hazard assessment based on detailed local information.

Particular earthquakes and earthquake-prone regions

• The San Andreas Fault and the San Francisco Bay Area
• Loma Prieta Earthquake, 1989 - Virtual Field Trip of Santa Cruz area
• Central California/San Francisco Bay Earthquake Hazards Project

• Kobe Earthquake, Japan, 1995
• Earthquake effects at Kobe, 1995

• Earthquake Hazard in the UK (British Geological Survey)