Exercise 1

EXERCISE 1

LOCATING EARTHQUAKE
EPICENTERS
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Supplies Needed
• calculator
• metric ruler
• compass (circle-drawing variety)
• colored pencils (red, green, blue)
________________________________

PURPOSE
Seismology is the study of the waves generated by earthquakes and transmitted
through the Earth. To seismologists, seismic waves are like sonar on a submarine or radar
on an airplane, allowing them to study the great volume of the Earth that lies hidden beneath
the surface. Locating where earthquakes occur is one of the most basic applications of
seismology, and that information is crucial in identifying and characterizing faults and
regional fault zones. Using data from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which caused about
$20 billion in damage in the Los Angeles area, this exercise shows you how seismologists
locate individual earthquakes. Using recent earthquake data from around the world, the
exercise shows you how that data outlines the Earth’s lithospheric plates and helps to
characterize the motion occurring at the different plate boundaries.

INTRODUCTION
This book is about earthquakes, about how earthquakes shape the Earth’s surface,
and about using geomorphology (the geology of the surface) to infer past and future
earthquake activity. An earthquake is defined as “a sudden motion or trembling in the
Earth caused by the abrupt release of strain on a fault1.” A fault is a break in the Earth’s
crust on which rupture occurs or has occurred in the past. Faults are classified according to
the type of rupture that occurs on them (Figure 1.1). Motion on a normal fault is
predominantly vertical and is caused by tension or extension. The block overlying the fault
(the “hanging-wall block” in fault lingo) moves down relative to the block beneath the fault
(the “footwall block”). Motion on a reverse fault also is predominantly vertical, but it is
caused by compression, and the hanging-wall block is pushed up relative to the footwall
1
after American Geological Institute, 1976. Dictionary of Geological Terms. Anchor Books.

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

Normal motion Reverse motion

Right-lateral Left-lateral
strike-slip motion strike-slip motion

Figure 1.1. Types of faults based on sense of movement.

block. Strike-slip faults are characterized by horizontal motion, and material is displaced
either to the right or to the left relative to material on the opposite side of the fault.

An earthquake is caused by the sudden release of elastic (recoverable) strain that

gradually builds up on a fault over time. Strain accumulation may occur over just a few
decades, such as on a major fault system like the San Andreas fault, or over thousands of
years on slower-moving faults. In general terms, a fault ruptures when the amount of strain
exceeds the strength of the rocks, but the actual triggering mechanism or process is not well
known. The energy of the resulting earthquake depends on the amount of strain built up,
the strength of the rocks
along the fault, and the
dimensions of the rupture
area. Rupture begins at a
single point on the fault
surface, known as the Epicenter
earthquake’s focus, but it
spreads rapidly. The largest
earthquakes may break a
fault or faults over several
hundred kilometers. When
newspapers report the Focus
occurrence of an earth-
quake, the location they cite
usually is the earthquake’s
epicenter. The epicenter is
the point on the surface
directly above the earth-
quake’s focus (Figure 1.2). Figure 1.2. The focus and epicenter of an earthquake.

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 Exercise 1

Perhaps the most important aspect of earthquakes, at least to people near the
epicenter, is shaking. Shaking is the result of seismic waves that are transmitted to or along
the Earth’s surface. Rupture on a fault causes seismic waves, similar to the way a thrown
stone causes ripples on the surface of a pond. There are three main types of seismic waves,
and they are categorized by their type of motion (Figure 1.3). P-waves are compressional,
so that particles displaced by the waves move forward and back parallel to the direction the
wave propogates. S-waves are shear waves, in which particles move perpendicular to the the
propogation direction. There are two types of surface waves (Love waves and Rayleigh
waves), involving either shearing or elliptical motion.
Direction of wave propagation
Body waves

P-waves

S-waves
Surface waves

Love waves

Rayleigh waves
Figure 1.3. The nature of P-waves, S-waves, and surface waves. (After Bolt,
1988. Earthquakes. W.H. Freeman: New York)

LOCATING EARTHQUAKES
As mentioned earlier, seismic waves are the main tool of seismologists, allowing
them to unravel the properties of faults and rocks deep beneath the surface of the Earth.
Seismic waves propagate throughout the Earth, and can be detected both close to earthquake
epicenters and on the opposite side of the planet. The instruments that seismologists use to
detect seismic waves are seismometers. Early seismometers consisted simply of a rotating
drum and a pen mounted on a free-swinging arm. When all was quiet, the pen would draw
a straight line on the drum as it rotated, but when seismic shaking occurred, the pen would
create a graphical image of the passing seismic waves. This graphical image is called a
seismogram, and one is illustrated in Figure 1.4.

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

An important detail about the different types of seismic waves is that each type
travels at a different speed. P-waves travel the fastest, S-waves not as fast, and surface
waves more slowly. In fact, the “P” in “P-wave” stands for “primary” because they are
the first waves to arrive after an earthquake. The “S” in “S-wave” stands for
“secondary” because they arrive after the P-waves. The different travel times of seismic
waves are the key to locating the epicenters of earthquakes.
time

lag time 1 minute

8:54

8:55
P S
Figure 1.4. A seismogram. The first arrivals of the P-waves and S-waves are
shown. The lag time is the interval between P- and S- wave arrivals.

Example 1.1.
To understand how seismograms are used to find the distance to an earthquake
epicenter, imagine that car A and car B always depart for trips together, but car A always
travels at 100 km per hour (kph), and car B travels at 85 kph. An observer anywhere along
the cars’ route could calculate exactly how far they had traveled simply by measuring the
time between them. For example, if the car A passes a given spot at 2:30 pm, and car B
passes the same spot at 2:45 pm, then the distance between that spot and the cars’ point of
departure must be about 142 km. This calculation is simply the result of knowing that
distance traveled (d) is the product of rate (r) and time (t):
d=r*t (1.1)
Because the distance traveled is the same for both cars, the following must be true:
d = rA * tA = rB * tB (1.2)
Given the speed of the two cars (rA and rB) and that car B passed the spot 15 minutes after
car A (tB = tA + 0.25 hrs), Equation 1.2 becomes:
100 km/hr * tA = 85 km/hr * (tA + 0.25 hrs) (1.3)
Simplifying and solving for tA:
tA = 1.42 hr (1.4)
Combining Equations 1.4 and 1.2:
d = rA * tA (1.5)
d = 100 km/hr * 1.42 hr (1.6)
d = 142 km (1.7)

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 Exercise 1

P-waves and S-waves are much like the two cars in Example 1.1. They both depart
together (from the focus), and one travels consistently faster than the other. P- and S-wave
velocities vary somewhat depending on the local geology, but they are consistent enough
that seismic-wave travel-time curves (Figure 1.5) can be used for earthquakes and
seismograms around the world. Travel-time curves are graphical solutions to the “distance
equals rate times time” equation. Figure 1.5A is a curve for epicenters hundreds or
thousands of kilometers away from the recording stations, while Figure 1.5B is an
enlargement for distances of tens to a few hundreds of kilometers. Note that the P- and S-
wave arrivals on Figure 1.5A are curved lines because the seismic waves travel through the
interior of the Earth, while distance is measured along the surface.

Figure 1.5. Seismic-wave travel times for recording stations anywhere on

Earth (A) and less than 1000 km from the epicenter (B). Note that
graph B is just an enlargement of the small shaded box in graph A.
To use a seismogram to calculate the distance between the recording station and the
epicenter of an earthquake, follow these steps:
A) Identify the first arrival of the P-waves as shown in Figure 1.4.
B) Identify the first arrival of the S-waves.
C) Measure the lag time between the P-wave arrival and the S-wave
arrival in seconds (tS – tP).
D) Find the distance that corresponds to that lag time using a travel-
time curve (Figure 1.5).
Using the information above, answer the questions on the following page:

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

1) Using Figure 1.5B, calculate the average velocity of P-waves and of S-waves in
the Earth’s crust.

2) Go back to Figure 1.4. Determine the distance from the station that recorded
that seismogram to the epicenter that caused those seismic waves. Note that the
tic-marks on the time scale are in 5-second increments.

3) If you know that the first one-minute mark on Figure 1.4 is 8:52:00 p.m., find
the exact time at which this earthquake occurred. [Hint: This problem becomes
simple if you measure time as the number of seconds after or before some
arbitrary time, for example 8:52:00. For example, 8:53:12 would be 72 sec,
while 8:51:12 would be -48 sec. Only the final answer (the time of the
earthquake) needs to be converted back into clock time.]

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 Exercise 1

Being able to find distance from a

seismogram is the first step in locating earthquake
epicenters. For example, if you know that a
seismometer in Berkeley, California is 6000 km
from an earthquake, you would be able to draw a
circle with a radius of 6000 km around Berkeley
(Figure 1.6). In order to pinpoint that epicenter,
Berkeley
however, you would need information from at least
two additional recording stations, for example San Juan
Honolulu, Hawaii and San Juan, Puerto Rico on Honolulu
Figure 1.6. The more stations you have data from,
the more accurate is your estimate of the epicenter
location.

Not every seismograph station around the

world detects every earthquake. Some stations are
located in shadow zones relative to a given
epicenter, meaning that either P-waves, S-waves, or Epicenter
both do not reach those locations. Shear waves, Seismic station
for example, cannot pass through a fluid. The S-
wave shadow zone is the main piece of evidence Figure 1.6. Locating an epicenter.
that led seismologists to conclude that the Earth (After Bolt, 1978)
has a fluid outer core. The exercise that follows
uses data from seismographs relatively close to the earthquake epicenter in question, so that
shadow zones and other complexities of a three-dimensional Earth do not present
problems.

THE 1994 NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE

In the pre-dawn hours of January 17, 1994, a magnitude Mw=6.7 earthquake struck
Northridge, California, an urbanized area about 30 km northwest of downtown Los
Angeles. As one eyewitness reported:
“Very loud noise during the shaking from floor boards and house moving and bricks falling
from the chimney (narrowly missing my car) and contents of shelves, closets, and cupboards
coming down on floor. I felt endangered enough after about five seconds of shaking to dive ...
into a doorjamb for the duration of the quake. Stove, refrigerator, shelves moved one to two
and a half feet from their original positions. A four drawer file cabinet fell over. All fallen or
moved items were displaced along a more or less East-West direction. Electricity, and phone
immediately went off and stayed off for hours. A water pipe leading to our home sprang a leak
and water spurted out all over our back area.” (Quoted in Dewey et al, 1995)
The earthquake caused damage over much of the Los Angeles metropolitan region,
including the destruction of several apartment complexes in the Northridge area and the
collapse of three freeway overpasses that snarled L.A. traffic for months. In all, the
Northridge earthquake killed 33 people, injured 7,000, severely damaged at least 24,000
structures, and caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it the most costly natural
disaster ever (although the damage figure was surpassed just one year later by the Kobe
earthquake in Japan).

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

The Northridge earthquake occurred near the “Big Bend” of the San Andreas Fault
(see Regional Focus A later in this book) in an area characterized by complex
compressional faulting and folding. The earthquake occurred on a thrust fault that was
previously unknown because the fault does not break the surface. Fault rupture at depths
of 8 km and below uplifted a broad area of the ground surface by up to 70 cm. The
Northridge earthquake was a devastating wakeup call to many scientists who previously
believed that the main seismic hazard in the Los Angeles region came from the San Andreas
and other right-lateral strike-slip faults in the area.

THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SEISMOGRAPH NETWORK

In this part of the exercise, you will use data from seismographs across Southern
California to identify the location and precise time of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In
Figure 1.7, you will find seven seismograms from seven different stations recorded on
January 17, 1994. Station codes are as follows:
BAR Barrett Dam NEE Needles SVD Seven Oaks Dam
GSC Goldstone PAS Pasadena VTV Victorville
PFO Pinion Flat
The zero-seconds mark on the time scale is 4:31:00 Pacific Standard Time for all the
seismograms. For each seismogram, identify the first P-wave arrival and the first S-wave
arrival. Enter this information in Table 1.1, including P-wave arrival time (tp), S-wave arrival
time (ts), and P-S lag time (ts – tp). Use Figure 1.8 (an enlarged copy of Figure 1.5B) to
find the distance between each station and the epicenter. The seismogram from BAR is
already completed for you as an example. Enter those distances in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1. Summary of data from the Southern California seismograph network.
(tP is the arrival time (in sec) of the first P-wave; tS is the S-wave arrival time)

tP (sec) tS (sec) tS - t P distance (km)

BAR 35 64 29 246

GSC

NEE

PAS

PFO

SVD

VTV

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 Exercise 1
29 sec
P S

BAR

GSC

NEE

PAS

PFO

SVD

VTV

0 50 100 150 200 250

Time (seconds)
Figure 1.7. Seismogram records of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. P-
and S-wave arrivals and the S–P lag time have already been completed
for BAR as an example.

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

Figure 1.8. Travel-time graph (enlargement of Figure 1.5B). The lag time
from station BAR is shown as an example.
After completing Table 1.1, use a compass to draw a circle around each
seismograph station on Figure 1.9 corresponding to the distance from each station to the
epicenter. Note that the map scale is in the lower left corner of the figure. The intersection
of the seven circles is the location of the epicenter of the Northridge earthquake.

4) What are the latitude and longitude of the Northridge epicenter?

5) Pick one or two of the seismograms to determine exactly what time the earthquake
began (hour, minute, and seconds). Use the method you used for Questions 1.1-
1.3. The more seismograms you use, the more accurate your result.

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Figure 1.9. Location map of Southern California. Seismograph
Exercise 1

stations and major faults are also shown.

Locating Earthquake Epicenters

GLOBAL TECTONICS
The science of geology underwent a revolution in the 1960s. Geologists discovered
that a vast number of geological phenomena that were previously believed to be unrelated
were actually part of a unified global system of plate tectonics. The theory of plate
tectonics was developed by identifying patterns in fields as different as volcanology,
structural geology, marine geology, seismology, and paleontology. In a nutshell, plate
tectonics is the theory that the Earth’s surface is subdivided into distinct plates that move
relative to the plates around them. Most earthquake activity, volcanism, and deformation of
the crust is concentrated at the edges of the plates, where they interact. A global map of
earthquake epicenters worldwide (Figure 1.10), for example, clearly shows the outlines of
the major plates of the Earth.

Figure 1.10. Map of global earthquake activity, 1900-2000 (Richter

magnitude ≥ 5). (From www.esscc.uq.edu.au/Quake/seis_maps/)

There are three basic types of plate boundaries: convergent boundaries, where the
two plates move towards each other; divergent boundaries, where the plates move apart; and
transform boundaries, where the plates move horizontally past one another. These plate-
boundary types and their major geological characteristics are shown in Figure 1.11.

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 Exercise 1

Topography: High-standing mid-ocean

ridge cut by deep valley at crest.

Earthquakes: Shallow, along mid-ocean

ridge and transform faults.

Volcanic Activity: Widespread eruption

of steam, hot fluids, and basalt lava
along mid-ocean ridge.
Divergent Plate Boundary

Topography: Linear island chain or mountain

range with deep trench if one or both con-
verging plates are oceanic; massive mountains
or plateaus if both plates are continental.

Earthquakes: Strongest, deepest on Earth.

Volcanic Activity: Eruption of silica-rich

lava from volcanoes, and intrusion of
magma into the crust.

Convergent Plate Boundary

Topography: Any type of topography can be
cut; topographic and geologic features that
cross plate boundary may be offset.

Earthquakes: Abundant activity, but usually

<15 km deep and less powerful than
extreme events at convergent boundaries.

Volcanic Activity: No major activity; hot

springs sometimes found along faults.

Transform Plate Boundary

Figure 1.11. The three basic types of plate boundaries and their major
geologic characteristics.

The data set on the following page is a list of earthquakes compiled by the U.S.
Geological Survey from 1990-1995, including the latitudes and longitudes of the epicenters,
focus depths, magnitudes, and a general statement of the locations. Each year, many
thousands of earthquakes occur around the world. The earthquake list here is limited to
events with magnitudes of 6.5 or more and earthquakes that caused fatalities or significant
damage. The list is further limited to the geographical area shown in Figure 1.12 (Central
and South America).

The purpose of this next exercise is to show how epicenter information can be used
to infer regional patterns of plate-tectonic activity. The information that you have available
here is similar to the information that geologists used to help develop the theory of plate
tectonics in the 1950s and 1960s. Follow these steps:

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

A) Using the latitude and longitude information, find the

location of each earthquake’s epicenter on Figure 1.12.
B) Using the depth information, plot each epicenter
location using the following guide:
0-50 km depth: red dot
51-200 km depth: green dot
>200 km depth: blue dot
C) Answer the questions that follow.

SIGNIFICANT EARTHQUAKES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA,

JANUARY, 1990 – APRIL, 1995
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
+ latitude is degrees north of the equator, – latitude is degrees south;
longitude is degrees west of Greenwich; depth is in km.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
LAT LON DEP MAG REGION
1990 9.919 84.808 22 Ms 6.8 COSTA RICA
11.426 86.301 15 Ms 6.7 NICARAGUA
6.905 82.622 10 Ms 6.5 SO. OF PANAMA
-6.016 77.229 24 Ms 6.6 NORTHERN PERU
-6.062 77.136 26 NORTHERN PERU
12.925 87.723 22 COAST OF NICARAGUA
-0.059 78.449 5 ECUADOR
-10.970 70.776 599 Mb 6.8 PERU-BRAZIL BORDER
9.869 84.302 17 Ms 6.1 COSTA RICA

1991 -6.038 77.130 21 Ms 6.4 NORTHERN PERU

-5.982 77.094 20 Ms 6.7 NORTHERN PERU
9.685 83.073 10 Ms 7.4 COSTA RICA
9.542 82.418 10 Ms 6.2 PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER
-13.108 72.187 105 Mb 6.5 PERU
-15.679 71.574 5 SOUTHERN PERU
4.554 77.442 21 MD 6.8 COAST OF COLOMBIA

1992 10.210 84.323 79 MD 5.6 COSTA RICA

11.742 87.340 45 Ms 7.4 NICARAGUA
6.866 76.816 10 Ms 7.0 NORTHERN COLOMBIA
7.123 76.887 10 Ms 7.4 NORTHERN COLOMBIA

1993 -11.652 76.530 106 Mw 6.3 CENTRAL PERU

-31.560 69.234 113 Mw 6.3 ARGENTINA
9.821 83.622 20 Mw 5.8 COSTA RICA
-25.304 70.166 48 Mw 6.6 NORTHERN CHILE

1994 -13.339 69.446 596 Mw 6.9 PERU-BOLIVIA BORDER

-28.299 63.252 562 Mw 6.9 ARGENTINA
-28.501 63.096 601 Mw 6.9 ARGENTINA
7.414 72.033 12 Mw 5.9 NORTHERN COLOMBIA

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 Exercise 1

2.917 76.057 12 Mw 6.7 COLOMBIA

-13.841 67.553 631 Mw 8.2 NORTHERN BOLIVIA
-26.642 63.421 564 Mw 6.5 ARGENTINA

1995 5.075 72.918 18 Mw 6.5 COLOMBIA

4.162 76.644 69 Mw 6.4 COLOMBIA
1.289 77.303 5 Mw 4.4 COLOMBIA
-3.854 76.958 103 Mw 6.7 NORTHERN PERU
_____________________________________________________________

6) Looking at all of your epicenters plotted on Figure 1.12, where do the deepest
earthquakes occur relative to the more shallow earthquakes? Explain why this
is the case (refer to Figure 1.11 if you need to).

7) Imagine that you are the first geologist to have accurate epicenter-location
information. Take a pen or pencil and draw where the major plate boundary or
boundaries seem to be located on Figure 1.12.

8) Last of all, consider that the list of earthquakes you used is not a complete list
of all the earthquakes that occurred. Review the list of criteria used to limit that
list. Are there any systematic biases in that list? (For example, are there some
locations where you may have plotted a greater portion of all the earthquakes
that occurred than in other areas?)

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Locating Earthquake Epicenters

80° 70° 60° 50° 40°

10°N

0°

10°S

20°S

30°S

40°S

0 1000 km

50°S

Figure 1.12. Location map of Central and South America.

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 Exercise 1

BIBLIOGRAPHY
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Benz, H.M., and J.E. Vidale, 1993. Probing Earth’s interior using seismic arrays.
Geotimes, 38(7): 20-22.

Bolt, B.A., 1978. Earthquakes. W.H. Freeman: San Francisco.

Bolt, B.A., 1993. Earthquakes (3rd Edition). W.H. Freeman: San Francisco.

Bott, M.H.P., 1982. The Interior of the Earth: Its Structure, Constitution, and Evolution.
Edward Arnold: London.

Dewey, J.W., B.G. Reagor, L. Dengler, and K. Moley, 1995. Intensity distribution and
isoseismal maps for the Northridge, California earthquake of January 17, 1994. U.S.
Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-92.

Heppenheimer, T.A., 1987. Journey to the center of the earth. Discover, 8 (11): 86-90+.

Jones, L., and 30 others, 1994. The magnitude 6.7 Northridge, California earthquake of 17
January, 1994. Science, 266: 389-397.

Scholz, C.H., 1990. The mechanics of earthquakes and faulting. Cambridge University
Press: Washington, DC.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Acknowledgements: The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Paul Roberts of
the California Institute of Technology, who assembled and prepared the seismograms and other
data for this exercise. Earthquake epicenter data was obtained from the U.S. Geologi-cal Survey
Earthquake and Geomagnetic Information on-line information service.

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