GROUP 1

JAMES LORENZ PEPITO

KARLO TAPAL
WHAT IS EARTHQUAKE?
Simply, earthquakes are the rumblings, shaking or rolling of the
earth's surface. It is usually what happens when two blocks of the
earth suddenly slip past one another, or break apart from each
other as a result of tension caused by prolonged energy build up.
Strongest earthquake in the Philippines
The quake occurred after the 1641 eruption of Mount Parker.
Landslides and mudflow destroyed villages in Ilocos provinces,
Cagayan and the Cordillera Central. A magnitude 7.5 quake
struck Luzon on November 30, 1645. The earthquake was then
the strongest to hit the Islands since the Spanish conquest.

Aftershocks continued a few days, then on

December 4 at 11:00 pm, annother event
(allegedly equal or stronger than
November 30) hit the area, causing further
death and destruction.
In Manila, damage was entirely severe: it
almost "crumbled" ten newly constructed
cathedrals in the capital, residential villas
and other buildings. An estimated number
of 600 Spanish people were killed, and
about 3,000 Spanish were injured.
The world's largest earthquake with an
instrumentally documented magnitude
occurred on May 22, 1960 near Valdivia,
in southern Chile. It was assigned a
magnitude of 9.5 by the United States
Geological Survey. It is referred to as the
"Great Chilean Earthquake" and the "1960
Valdivia Earthquake."
The epicenter of this megathrust earthquake was near Lumaco,
approximately 570 kilometres (350 mi) south of Santiago,
with Valdivia being the most affected city. The tremor caused localised
tsunamis that severely battered the Chilean coast, with waves up to 25
metres (82 ft). The main tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean and
devastated Hilo, Hawaii. Waves as high as 10.7 metres (35 ft) were
recorded 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) from the epicenter, and as far away
as Japan and the Philippines.
The death toll and monetary losses arising from this widespread disaster
are not certain. Various estimates of the total number of fatalities from the
earthquake and tsunamis have been published, ranging between 1,000
and 7,000 killed. Different sources have estimated the monetary cost
ranged from US$400 million to 800 million[ (or $3.31 billion to $6.62 billion
today, adjusted for inflation).
What are the types of earthquakes?

Earthquakes can come in three main forms, depending on the plate movements that
occur beneath the earth's surface. They could occur on a Convergent Boundary,
Divergent Boundary or a Transform Fault.

Convergent boundary:
Here, one plate is forced over another plate during movement creating a thrust fault.
Divergent boundary:
Here, plates are forced apart each other, usually forming a Rift Zone. This kind is
common in ocean floors where new floors are created. An example is the Mid
Atlantic Ridge.
Transform fault:
Unlike divergent and convergent, the plates here slip by each other. This is also
called Strike-Slip.
Earthquake Waves
There are 2 types of earthquakes waves and the difference lies in the way the seismic waves are transmitted.
P-Waves (Primary Waves)

P-waves are longitudinal in nature. The vibrations are along the same direction as the direction of travel. It
is also known as compressional waves. P-waves travel faster than S-waves.

S-Waves (Secondary waves)

Here the waves travel at right angles to the direction of travel. They are also known as transverse waves and
example include water waves.