EOSC 256: Earthquakes

Spring 2011

Instructor: Elizabeth H. Hearn (355 EOS South)  ehearn@eos.ubc.ca

Christchurch_2010 no_fault_here

photos: Mark Quigley (2010 M 7.1 Canterbury NZ earthquake)


Syllabus

PDF link

Links to Lecture PDF files

NOTES: These files do not represent all you will be learning (and examined on) in this class. I will post these in a timely manner - usually (but not always) before class, and certainly well before midterm and final exams.
The last column shows non-lecture activities we do in class, as well as assigned work and due dates.
This schedule is subject to change as the semester goes on.

W January 4
Course intro and survey, Mercalli intensity
PDF
Pre-course survey. 
F January 6
Mercalli intensity and in-class activity.

In-class activity 1: Intensity.
M January 9
Early earthquake hypotheses (through 1906).
PDF

W January 11
Faults as the cause of earthquakes - old and modern evidence. First intro to elastic rebound theory.
PDF
Assign Homework 1.
F January 13
NO CLASS

NO CLASS.
M January 16
Types of faults, Describing fault geometry and slip: strike, dip, rake, slip vector.
PDF

W January 18
Field and other observations of faults; Relationship between fault types and plate tectonics.
PDF
Homework 1 is due.
F January 20


In-class activity 2: Geometry of faults and slip.
M January 23
Types of seismic waves, seismograms
PDF

W January 25
Seismograms, seismometers, sensitivity
PDF

F January 27


In-class activity 3: seismometry (part of HWK 2)
Assign Homework 2.
M January 30
Seismic networks, locating earthquakes, early warning.
PDF
(Topic may go into Wednesday)
W February 1
Earthquake magnitude.
PDF

F February 3


In-class activity 4: Magnitude and location.
M February 6
Focal mechanisms, why they matter (bombs, plate tectonics) I
PDF

W February 8
Focal mechanisms, why they matter (bombs, plate tectonics) II

Homework 2 is due.
F February 10


In-class activity 5: Focal Mechanisms.
M February 13
How often, how big: Gutenberg-Richter magnitude-frequency relationship, Omori's Law (I)
PDF

W February 15
Scaling, characteristic earthquakes, review.


F February 17
MIDTERM EXAM

STUDY GUIDE AND SAMPLE QUESTIONS
M February 27
Intro to earthquake mechanics part of the course (next 3 weeks); displacement gradient matrix
PDF

W February 29
Strain
PDF

F March 2
(finish strain lecture, plus activity)

In-class activity 6: Strain and rotation exercise (2D)
M March 5
Stress and elasticity
PDF

W March 7
Stress and elasticity, Coulomb failure criterion
PDF

F March 9


In-class activity 7: Elastic properties  and seismic wave velocity from strain and density measurements.
Assign Homework 3 (Saturday)
M March 12
Friction
PDF

W March 14
Friction and instability; generating an earthquake.
PDF

F March 16


Extra-important in-class activity 8: Spring-slider earthquake model.  Homework 3 is due.
M March 19
Instability summary
PDF
Homework 3 is due.
W March 21
Conditions for large quakes
PDF

F March 23


In-class activity 9: earthquake triggering
Assign Homework 4
M March 26
Pore pressure changes and triggering earthquakes
PDF

W March 28
Earthquake triggering
PDF

F March 30

PDF
In-class activity 10: Human-induved seismicity
M April 2
Forecasting earthquakes
PDF

W April 4
Tsunamis
PDF
Homework 4 is due.







Final exam study guide TBA






Some Links

animations of seismic waves

animations of rupture propagation and strong motion (shaking)


USGS Coulomb stress and earthquake triggering animations

USGS National Earthquake Information Center: Latest quakes
(This page also has links to USGS Did You Feel It?, PAGER, and ShakeMap pages)

Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (has link to latest earthquakes in Oregon and Washington)

IRIS seismic monitor

Living on an Active Earth: Perspectives on Earthquake Science  (National Academies of Science Press)
(I own a hardcopy of this book, but you can read it online for free - scroll down)

Text of the Lawson Report on the web (incredibly thorough report on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, in which elastic rebound theory was proposed)

1906 Earthquake online exhibit - UC Berkeley  

Visible Geology Web App

IRIS Education Webpage (has links for animations)