GEOL 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Love Wave, Power Law

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
• Course: GEOL 106
• Professor: David Alan Hanes

Document Summary

Determine this by: empirical observations, laboratory experiments, computer modelling. In general: the closer you are to the earthquake the greater the damage, the greater the magnitude the greater the damage. But this can be modified by natural (nature of soils/rocks) and anthropogenic (nature of the structures that we build) conditions. Structures on the fault wull be disrupted by the tearing motion. So don"t build on active faults but people do (eg. san francisco: ground shaking. Generally the greatest threat to buildings and people in a big earthquake, the shaking can be severe even 100"s of kilometers away from the epicenter. Most ground shaking is generally a direct consequence of surface wave motion (love waves and rayleigh waves: and if you are close to the epicenter, the p and s waves. 1985 earthquake near acapulco and the effects (1989) on mexico city.