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An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the sudden release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and destruction of property.
Earthquakes may occur naturally or as a result of human activities. In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event—whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans—that generates seismic waves.
Measuring earthquakes
Main article: Seismic scale
Since seismologists cannot directly observe rupture in the Earth's interior, they rely on geodetic measurements and numerical experiments to analyze seismic waves and accurately assess severity of earthquakes. The severity of an earthquake can be measured in terms of magnitude and intensity. For that seismologists use two fundamentally different but equally important types of scales. The original force or energy of an earthquake is measured on a magnitude scale, while the intensity of shaking occurring at any given point on the Earth's surface is measured on an intensity scale.
While the non-specialized media will often refer to the magnitudes of earthquakes as being reported on the Richter scale, the magnitudes reported nowadays are actually on the moment magnitude scale. The older Richter scale is not adapted for larger earthquakes.
The analyses of earthquake severity allow scientists to estimate the locations and likelihoods of future earthquakes, helping identify areas of greatest hazard and ensure safety of people and infrastructure located in such areas. |
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Posted by zoe3 on 2008-06-03 03:38:58 | Rating: | Views: 66
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