PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS)

Seismograph, instrument that makes a record of seismic waves caused by

an earthquake, explosion, or other Earth-shaking phenomenon.
Seismographs are equipped with electromagnetic sensors that translate
ground motions into electrical changes, which are processed and recorded by
the instruments’ analog or digital circuits. The
terms seismograph and seismometer are often used interchangeably;
however, whereas both devices may detect and measure seismic waves, only
a seismograph possesses the capacity to record the phenomena. A record
produced by a seismograph on a display screen or paper printout is called
a seismogram.
A seismograph is the device that scientists use to measure earthquakes. The goal
of a seismograph is to accurately record the motion of the ground during a
quake. If you live in a city, you may have noticed that buildings sometimes shake
when a big truck or a subway train rolls by. Good seismographs are therefore
isolated and connected to bedrock to prevent this sort of "data pollution."

The main problem that must be solved in creating a seismograph is that when
the ground shakes, so does the instrument. Therefore, most seismographs
involve a large mass of some sort. You could make a very simple seismograph by
hanging a large weight from a rope over a table. By attaching a pen to the weight
and taping a piece of paper to the table so that the pen can draw on the paper,
you could record tremors in the Earth's crust (earthquakes). If you used a roll of
paper and a motor that slowly pulled the paper across the table, you would be
able to record tremors over time. However, it would take a pretty large tremor for
you to see anything. In a real seismograph, levers or electronics are used
to magnify the signal so that very small tremors are detectable. A big
mechanical seismograph may have a weight attached that weighs 1,000 pounds
(450 kg) or more, and it drives a set of levers that significantly magnify the pen's
motion.
A seismogram is a graph output by a seismograph. It is a record of the ground motion at a
measuring station as a function of time. Seismograms typically record motions in three cartesian
axes (x, y, and z), with the z axis perpendicular to the Earth's surface and the x- and y- axes parallel
to the surface. The energy measured in a seismogram may result from an earthquake or from some
other source, such as an explosion. Seismograms can record lots of things, and record many little
waves, called microseisms. These tiny microseisms can be caused by heavy traffic near the
seismograph, waves hitting a beach, the wind, and any number of other ordinary things that cause
some shaking of the seismograph.
A set of seismograms for an earthquake from the USGS (click to see large version)

Historically, seismograms were recorded on paper attached to rotating drums. Some used pens on
ordinary paper, while others used light beams to expose photosensitive paper. Today, practically all
seismograms are recorded digitally to make analysis by computer easier. [1] Some drum
seismometers are still found, especially when used for public display. Seismograms are essential for
finding the location and magnitude of earthquakes.
What is Shown on a Seismogram?
Seismograms are used to determine the location and magnitude of earthquakes.
An earthquake's magnitude may be considered to vary as a function of the amount of
energy released at the rupture point. When an earthquake occurs, two main types of
vibratory waves move through the body of the earth from the point of fracture.
The primary, or P, waves travel most quickly and are the first to be registered by the
seismograph. Secondary, or S, waves travel more slowly.
As S waves have a greater amplitude than P waves the two groups are easily
distinguishable on the seismogram. By measuring the time interval between the arrivals
of the P and S wave groups seismologists are able to calculate the distance between
the seismograph and the origin of the earthquake. Magnitude is then derived from the
amplitude of the waves on the seismogram and the distance of the earthquake from the
seismograph.
When P and S waves strike the surface of the earth they initiate a third kind of wave,
called surface waves, which travel over the earth's surface. These are the slowest
waves. On recordings of local earthquakes the surface waves are small and can seldom
be distinguished from the S waves that preceded them. However, since surface waves
attenuate much more slowly than do P or S waves they are generally the largest waves
to appear on long period seismograms of distant earthquakes.
If an earthquake is recorded by three or more seismograph stations its precise location
can be determined from the set of distances. In seismically active areas, a network of
sensitive seismographs may be installed to locate even very minor tremors.

What's a Seismograph?
Earthquakes are fascinating and frightening at the same time. Have you ever wondered how
scientists study these earth-shaking events? They use what's called a seismograph, also called a
seismometer, which is an instrument that measures and records seismic waves that move through
the earth as the result of an earthquake.
A modern seismograph can help scientists detect earthquakes and measure several aspects of the
event:

 The time at which the earthquake occurred

 The epicenter, which is the location on the surface of the earth below which the earthquake
occurred
 The depth below the earth's surface at which the earthquake occurred
 The amount of energy released by the earthquake
Scientists measure and record this data to learn more about earthquakes, tectonic plates, and
Earth's layers. Earthquakes are difficult to predict, but scientists studying them hope to use
seismographic measurements to be able to make more accurate predictions.

How a Seismograph Works

The idea behind a seismograph is fairly simple. A basic seismograph includes a solid base and a
heavy weight suspended from a spring over the base. A pen hangs from the weight and a rotating
drum with paper sits below it on the base. The tip of the pen touches the drum. When the earth
shakes from an earthquake, the drum rotates, and the weighted pen moves back and forth due to
the motion of seismic waves. The pen records the movement on the drum. The paper recording of
an earthquake is called a seismogram.

The most high-tech seismographs used by scientists studying earthquakes today are sophisticated
and precise. They are based on the same concept as a basic, simple seismograph, but make use of
electronics, magnets, and amplifiers in order to accurately and precisely measure the smallest
ripples in the earth caused by earthquakes.
Measurement Scales
You have probably heard of the Richter scale, a popular unit for measuring the magnitude of an
earthquake. It was invented by Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology in 1935
and uses a logarithmic scale to measure seismic wave magnitude. Because the scale is logarithmic,
a difference of one unit represents a tenfold difference in the magnitude of a seismic wave. For
instance, an earthquake measured as 6.0 on the Richter scale is 10 times more intense than a 5.0
earthquake. A 7.0 earthquake is 100 times more intense than the 5.0 earthquake.
The Richter scale is still often cited in news reports of earthquakes, but scientists studying these
events use another scale that allows for more accurate measurements. 
Seismograph, instrument that makes a record of seismic waves caused by
an earthquake, explosion, or other Earth-shaking phenomenon. Seismographs are
equipped with electromagnetic sensors that translate ground motions into electrical
changes, which are processed and recorded by the instruments’ analog or digital
circuits. The terms seismograph and seismometer are often used interchangeably;
however, whereas both devices may detect and measure seismic waves, only a
seismograph possesses the capacity to record the phenomena. A record produced by a
seismograph on a display screen or paper printout is called a seismogram.
Although originally designed to locate natural earthquakes, seismographs have many
other uses, such as petroleum exploration, investigation of Earth’s crust and lower
layers, and monitoring of volcanic activity.
Development Of The First Seismographs
An early seismic instrument called the seismoscope made no time record of ground
oscillations but simply indicated that shaking had occurred. A Chinese scholar, Zhang
Heng, invented such an instrument as early as 132 CE. It was cylindrical in shape with
eight dragon heads arranged around its upper circumference, each with a ball in its
mouth. Around the lower circumference were eight frogs, each directly under a
dragon head. When an earthquake occurred, balls were released from a dragon’s
mouth, probably by an internal pendulum that moved back and forth according to the
direction of vibration, and were caught by a frog’s mouth, which produced noise.

In 1855 Italian scientist Luigi Palmieri designed a seismograph that consisted

of several U-shaped tubes filled with mercury and oriented toward the different
points of the compass. When the ground shook, the motion of the mercury
made an electrical contact that stopped a clock and simultaneously started a
recording drum on which the motion of a float on the surface of mercury was
registered. This device thus indicated time of occurrence and the relative
intensity and duration of the ground motion.
 Palmieri, Luigi: seismographA sketch of Italian scientist Luigi Palmieri's seismograph. The Eruption of
Vesuvius in 1872 by Luigi Palmieri (Asher and Company, London, 1873)

The basic problem in measuring ground motions is to attain a steady point

that remains fixed when the ground moves. Various types of pendulums have
been used for that purpose. The simplest type is a common pendulum in
which a heavy mass is suspended by a wire or rod from a fixed point (as in a
clock). Other forms are the inverted pendulum, in which a heavy mass is fixed
to the upper end of a vertical rod pointed at its lower end, and the horizontal
pendulum, in which a rod with a mass on its end is suspended at two points
so as to swing in a nearly horizontal plane instead of a vertical plane. After a
series of earthquakes struck near Perthshire, Scotland, in 1839, a
seismometer with an inverted pendulum was installed near Comrie in 1840.
The first true seismograph, according to Italian seismologists, was created in
1875 by Italian physicist Filippo Cecchi. The Cecchi seismograph also used
pendulums, but it was the first to record the relative motion of the pendulums
with respect to Earth’s ground motions as a function of time. The motions
produced by seismic waves would activate a clock, and the recording surface
(which tracked ground motion) advanced 1 cm (0.04 inch) per second, which
would allow a reader to establish the timing of an earthquake’s onset as well
as its duration.

Seismograph developments occurred rapidly in 1880 when Scottish

physicist Sir James Alfred Ewing, Scottish engineer Thomas Gray, and
English geologist John Milne, who were working in Japan at the time, began
to study earthquakes. Following a severe earthquake that occurred at
Yokohama near Tokyo in that year, they organized the Seismological Society
of Japan. Under its auspices various devices, forerunners of today’s
seismograph, were invented. Among the instruments constructed in that
period was Milne’s famous horizontal pendulum seismograph. Milne
successfully used that seismograph to record several earthquakes in Japan.
Then, after returning to England, he established a small worldwide
seismographic network using such instruments.

Milne, John: horizontal pendulum seismographHorizontal pendulum seismograph, as invented by

English seismologist John Milne in 1880. A boom (B), to which the mass (M) was attached, was
suspended horizontally by a pivot (P) and a silk thread (T) fixed to a point above the pivot. A thin plate
(C), in which a narrow slit was cut parallel to the boom, was attached to the end of the boom. A similar
 plate with a slit at right angles to the upper plate was fixed on the top of a box containing a recording
drum (D). A ray of light from an oil lamp passed through both slits and formed a small spot of light on a
sheet of light-sensitive graph paper (bromide paper) wrapped on the recording drum. Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.

The horizontal pendulum seismograph was improved greatly after World War

II. The Press-Ewing seismograph, developed in the United States for
recording long-period waves, was widely used throughout the world. That
device employed a Milne-type pendulum, but the pivot supporting the
pendulum was replaced by an elastic wire to avoid friction.

Press-Ewing seismographThe Press-Ewing seismograph, developed in the United States for recording
long-period waves, was widely used throughout the world. M. Van Camp/Royal Observatory of
Belgium.
Applications Of The Seismograph

A seismograph records oscillation of the ground caused by seismic waves that

travel from their point of origin through Earth or along its surface. The
seismogram of a nearby small earthquake has a simple pattern, showing the
arrival of P waves (longitudinal waves, which vibrate in the direction of
propagation), S waves (transverse waves—that is, waves that vibrate at right
angles to the direction of propagation), and surface waves (compression
waves with no vertical or longitudinal components). In the case of distant
earthquakes or of nearby very large earthquakes, the seismogram pattern is
more complicated because it shows various sorts of seismic waves that
originate from one or many points but then may be reflected or refracted
within Earth’s crust before reaching the seismograph. The relation between
the arrival time of the P and S waves and the epicentral distance—i.e., the
distance from the point of origin—is expressed by a time-distance curve, in
which the arrival time is read on the vertical axis and the epicentral distance
on the horizontal axis. If the arrival times of various seismic waves are read on
the seismogram at a station and compared with the standard time-distance
curves, the epicentral distance from that station (the distance of the centre of
the earthquake from the recording station) can be determined. If the epicentral
distance from at least three stations is known, the origin of the earthquake can
be calculated by simple trigonometric methods.


seismic wave: main typesDiagram showing the main types of seismic
waves: P (primary), S (secondary), Love, and Rayleigh.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

seismic waves: travel-time curveThe relation between the arrival time of the P and S waves and the
epicentral distance—i.e., the distance from the point of origin—is expressed by a travel-time curve in
which the arrival time is read on the vertical axis and the epicentral distance on the horizontal
axis.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The eruption of a volcano is commonly accompanied by many small

earthquakes, especially when a volcano resumes activity after a long dormant
period. Observation with sensitive seismographs therefore plays an important
role in predicting volcanic activity.
Often a strong earthquake is preceded by small earthquakes. Observation of
very small tremors with sensitive seismographs is helpful in predicting
disastrous earthquakes.
Seismographs sometimes detect small and long-continuing oscillations of the
ground, called microseisms, that do not originate as earthquakes. The
occurrence of some microseisms is related to storms at sea.
Seismographs are used for detecting remote underground tests of nuclear
weapons, in which the relatively faint seismic waves generated by an
underground explosion must be distinguished from natural tremors. If the
seismic waves generated by an explosive charge are recorded by sensitive
seismographs installed at various points in the neighbourhood of the
explosion, the underground structure of the site can be determined by
analyzing the time-distance curves of the P waves, using both direct waves
and those reflected or refracted at the boundaries of underground layers.
The depths of underground layers, their angle of inclination, and the speed of
seismic waves in each layer can be also determined by using seismographs.
Since the discovery of a large oil field in Texas by that method in
1923, seismic surveying has made rapid progress and is now used for oil and
gas exploration. The improvement in the instruments and techniques achieved
after World War II made it possible to determine the structure of Earth’s
crust to a depth of 40–50 km (about 25–30 miles) by detonation of a small
amount of explosive.
seismic explorationGeophysicists searching for oil by using seismic equipment. Sound impulses are put
into the ground, and the echoes are recorded to image the subsurface rock layers and find petroleum
traps.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Ground motions caused by injecting fracking water into underground disposal

wells and dynamite blasts in mines, quarries, and public works also can be
measured by the seismograph. Preliminary examinations based on
seismographic measurements make it possible to estimate the intensity of
shocks and, thus, evaluate the amount of damage caused by a given amount
of dynamite. Rock bursts, in which rocks are ejected suddenly in deep pits or
tunnels, are caused by increase of stress in the surrounding rocks.
Experience in mines shows that an increase of small shocks detectable by
highly sensitive geophones—portable seismometers for field use—generally
indicates a rock burst hazard.
Zhang Heng: seismoscopeModel of Zhang Heng's seismoscope (seismograph), which he invented about 132 CE to
detect earthquakes.Mary Evans Picture Library Ltd/age footstock
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Earthquake Intensity Scale
(PEIS) is a measure of how an earthquake is felt in a certain area, based on the relative
effects of an earthquake on structures and surroundings. It is represented by Roman
numerals with Intensity I as the weakest and Intensity X the strongest. It has been used
since 1996, replacing the Rossi-Forel scale.

Intensity Scale Description

Scarcely perceptible
I.  Delicately balanced objects are disturbed slightly.
 Still water in containers oscillates slowly.
Slightly felt
 Felt by few individuals at rest indoors.
II.
 Hanging objects swing slightly.
 Still water in containers oscillates noticeably.
Weak
 Felt by many people indoors, especially in upper floors.
III.  Hanging objects swing moderately.
 Still water in containers oscillates moderately.
 Feels like a light truck passing by.
Moderately strong
 Felt generally by people indoors and by some people outdoors.
 Hanging objects swing considerably.
 Motorcars may rock slightly.
IV.
 Liquids in containers are slightly disturbed.
 Water in containers oscillates strongly.
 A rumbling sound may sometimes be heard.
 Feels like a heavy truck passing by.
Strong
 Felt by most people indoors and outdoors.
 A strong shaking and rocking is felt throughout building.
 Hanging objects swing violently.
V.
 Small, light, and unstable objects may fall or overturn.
 Liquids spill from filled open containers.
 Vehicles rock noticeably.
 Leaves and twigs of trees shake.
VI. Very Strong
 Furniture and other heavy objects are displaced.
 Wall plaster may crack.
 People may lose balance.
 Small church bells may ring.
 If on the road, it may feel like driving with flat tires.
  Very old or poorly built houses and man-made structures are slightly damaged though
 Limited rockfalls and rolling boulders occur in hilly to mountainous areas and escarp
 Trees shake .
Destructive
 Heavy objects and furniture overturn or topple.
 Difficulty standing on upper floors.
 Old or poorly-built structures suffer considerable damage.
VII.  Some well-built structures are slightly damaged.
 Some cracks may appear on dikes, fishponds, road surface, or concrete hollow block
 Limited liquefaction,* lateral spreading and landslides are observed.
 Trees shake noticeably.

*(Liquefaction is a process by which loose saturated sand loses strength during an earthqua
Very Destructive
 People will find it difficult to even stand outdoors.
 Many well-built buildings are considerably damaged.
 Concrete dikes and the foundations of bridges are destroyed by ground settling or top
 Railway tracks are bent or broken.
 Utility posts, towers, and monuments may tilt or topple.
VIII.  Water and sewer pipes may be bent, twisted, or broken.
 Liquefaction and lateral spreading cause manmade structures to sink, tilt, or topple.
 Numerous landslides and rockfalls occur in mountainous and hilly areas.
 Boulders are thrown out from their positions particularly near the epicenter.
 Fissures and faults rupture.
 Trees shake violently.
 Water splashes over dikes or the banks of rivers.
Devastating
 People are forced to the ground
 Most buildings are totally damaged.
 Bridges and elevated concrete structures are toppled or destroyed.
 Numerous utility posts, towers, and monuments are tilted, toppled, or broken.
IX.  Sewer pipes are bent, twisted or broken.
 Landslides and liquefaction with lateral spreadings and sandboils are widespread.
 The ground is distorted into undulations.
 Trees are shaken very violently with some toppled or broken.
 Boulders are commonly thrown out.
 River water splashes violently on slops over dikes and banks.
Completely Devastating
 Many trees are toppled, broken, and uprooted.
X.  Practically all man-made structures are destroyed.
 Massive landslides and liquefaction, large-scale subsidence and the uplifting of land f
 Changes in river courses and destructive seiches in large lakes occur.