The Richter earthquake magnitude scale in South Australia

Richter magnitudes M_L have been determined for 718 well recorded South Australian earthquakes by converting amplitudes derived from existing seismograph stations to equivalent Wood‐Anderson amplitudes, and substituting in Richter's formula (Richter 1935), derived for such instruments and for Southern California. The magnitudes so determined were generally found to increase with distance A for each earthquake, at least for events at distances below a few hundred kilometres, reflecting lower attenuation of crustal S waves in South Australia.

A distance‐dependent correction, which must be subtracted from Richter magnitudes, was obtained by integrating the weighted least squares fit to the (A, dM_L/dA) data. The correction increases to one‐half of a magnitude unit at a distance of 400 km, and thereafter decreases smoothly to 0.3 units at 600 km. Station corrections, due to local geological variations, have also been determined. Values range from ‐0.6 to + 0.2 units.

Empirical relationships between the revised M_L scale and the previously used local magnitude scales m_L and M_N (White 1968; Stewart 1975) and the body wave magnitude scale m_b have been established. The latter yields results consistent with the well known Gutenberg‐Richter formula (Richter 1958)     

四川汶川Ms 8.0地震报道

据国家地震台网测定,北京时间2008年5月12日14时28分,在四川汶川县(北纬31度,东经103.4度)发生Ms 8.0级地震（图1）。宁夏、青海、甘肃、河南、山西、陕西、山东、云南、湖南、湖北、上海、重庆等省市均有震感……。这次地震造成约7万人死亡,1.7万人失踪,38多万人受伤,令人震撼。重灾区14个县（市）主要公路全部瘫痪,主要铁路、水库和城镇遭受重大破坏,特别是北川县城和映秀镇成为一片废墟,这次地震是继唐山地震之后我国又一个死亡和损失巨大的毁灭性地震。根据中国地震局台网中心和美国地质调查局公布资料,汶川地震的震中位于映秀镇西南2~3 km处,滑动面西倾,倾角40~59°,属于逆冲断裂型地震。主震之后一月时间内,记录了51次≥5级的余震,沿整个龙门山中段和北段分布。根据远程地震台站资料的反演结果显示汶川地震产生的破裂带长度超过300 km,震源深度在16~19 km,属于典型的大陆浅源地震,地震类型为单震—余震型,地震破裂属于单向扩展型,从西南震中区向北东方向快速扩展（图2）。汶川地震的发震构造为龙门山中央断裂带（传统上称为映秀-北川断裂）,是这条断裂向东逆冲运动的结果,从更大的大陆动力学尺度上考虑,这次地震破裂事件是印度/欧亚大陆持续汇聚作用下青藏高原向东扩展的表现（图3）。众所周知,龙门山构造带横亘于四川盆地和青藏高原之间,主体由三条主边界断裂组成,从西到东分别命名为茂-汶断裂、映秀-北川断裂、安县-灌县断裂。这些断裂主体形成于三叠纪印支运动时期,在中新生代多次活动。晚新生代以来,伴随着青藏高原向东构造挤出,龙门山构造带中、南段强烈挤压复活和基底拆离,形成青藏东缘宏伟的逆冲推覆构造和飞来峰群,其东缘映秀断裂向东逆冲运动,使彭-灌杂岩体推覆在龙门山前陆带中生界地层之上,推覆距离在几公里以上。野外调查和震后航空照片解译结果初步分析表明,汶川地震不仅使映秀-北川断裂发生破裂,摧毁了沿断裂带建设的所有城镇与乡村,最大地震烈度达到XI级,同时也使龙门山山前断裂带（灌县-安县断裂带）发生破裂。地震产生的地表破裂构造表现为地表拱曲、挤压脊、地震鼓包、张裂隙等。地表破裂构造几何特征指示断层由西向东逆冲运动,同震垂向位移量在2.5~3 m,北川以北伴有明显的右旋走滑分量。两个地点在这次地震中受到特别关注：一个汶川县映秀镇,另一个是北川县城。映秀镇靠近震中很近,映秀断裂恰好经过该镇,从而成为断裂的命名地点。它坐落在岷江及其支流的交汇处,其中发育至少三级河流阶地。汶川地震使该镇毁灭（图版Ⅰ）。北川县城远离震中150 km之遥,但整个县城完全被地震毁灭,是汶川地震中破坏程度最大、人员伤亡最多的县城。北川县城是北川断裂的命名地点,该断裂切过县城所在的峡谷地带,呈NE-SW向延伸。这次强震产生的动能不仅使北川县城产生毁灭性破坏,同时由于地震动触发的崩滑等山地灾害,导致人员的重大伤亡（图版Ⅱ）。汶川地震带给科学家带来诸多新的思考。历史地震记录显示,龙门山断裂带在历史上没有发生过>7级地震,中小地震数量也少。而位于龙门山断裂带以北的岷山构造带和以南的川滇断裂带,在历史上均发生过震级≧7级的强震,如1933年叠溪7.5级地震和1976年松潘7.2级地震（图4）,说明龙门山构造带长期处于构造应力能量的累积过程中。全球定位系统（GPS）重复测量结果也显示,横穿该带现今地壳近东西向缩短率很小,数量级在1~2 mm/a,与青藏高原其他边缘相比相对较弱。这种小应变构造区孕育大地震,在世界其它大陆地区很少见,其机理和破裂过程需要科学家深入的研究和持续的探索。     

Algal lipids as a possible contributor to the polymethylene chains in kerogen

Lipid fraction and cell-wall materials have been separated from three types of algae (blue green, Microcystis sp.; green, Scenedesmus sp. and diatomaceous Diatoma sp.) and their KMnO₄ oxidation products (aliphatic $\text{α,ω-C}{}_2\text{-C}{}_{12}$ dicarboxylic acids; aliphatic normal C₁₄–C₂₄ monocarboxylic acids; benzoic acid and C₁₈ isoprenoidal ketone) examined by gas chromatography and gas chromatographymass spectrometry. The results suggest that the lipid material could make a greater contribution to polymethylene chains in kerogen than the cell-wall material, when the kerogens are mainly derived from algal components.     

2005年3月6日台湾宜兰海域6.1级地震速报总结及地震特征分析

对2005年3月6日台湾宜兰海域6.1级有感地震的速报情况进行总结,并对其地震特征进行了初步分析。     

Temporal analysis of croatian seismogenic zones to improve earthquake magnitude prediction

The prediction of earthquakes is a task of utmost difficulty that has been addressed in many different ways. However, an initial definition of the area of interest is needed, with adequate catalogs. In this work, different seismogenic zones proposals in the Republic of Croatia are studied, in terms of predictability. Such zones have been characterized with widely used seismicity parameters. Later, studies based on training and test sets properties as well as the quality of the data involved are carried out. The studies presented in this work analyze the prediction performance across the earthquake magnitude time series of the target seismogenic zones. Results show that specific prediction techniques could be used in some zones to improve earthquake magnitude prediction.     

The Colchester forgeries: faking photographic evidence of earthquake damage

The photographic archive of the 22 April 1884 Colchester earthquake, the most damaging British earthquake in the last 400 years, is wellknown. Evidence has come to light that at least two of these photographs are partly or wholly faked. This shows that not even the camera can necessarily be relied upon to accurately portray the extent of damage from historical earthquakes.     

The distribution of annual maximum earthquake magnitude around Taiwan and its application in the estimation of catastrophic earthquake recurrence probability

The annual maximum earthquake magnitudes around Taiwan from 1900 to 2009 are presented in this paper. Using the distribution of the AMEM, a probabilistic framework to estimate the recurrence probability of a large-size earthquake is also proposed and an illustration was made in this paper. The mean value of the 110-AMEM is 6.433, and the coefficient of variation is around 10%. The results of two goodness-of-fit tests show that the Gamma and lognormal distributions are relatively suitable to represent the AMEM around Taiwan among five common probability distributions. Using the proposed approach, the recurrence probability is 4% for an earthquake with magnitude greater than 7.5 in a 1-year period around Taiwan. More site-specifically, the probability is around 5% in Central Taiwan for such an earthquake to occur in a 50-year period.     

A new procedure to best-fit earthquake magnitude probability distributions: including an example for Taiwan

Since the year 1973, more than 54,000 M _w ≥ 3.0 earthquakes have occurred around Taiwan, and their magnitude–frequency relationship was found following with the Gutenberg–Richter recurrence law with b value equal to 0.923 from the least-square calculation. However, using this b value with the McGuire–Arabasz algorithm results in some disagreement between observations and expectations in magnitude probability. This study introduces a simple approach to optimize the b value for better modeling of the magnitude probability, and its effectiveness is demonstrated in this paper. The result shows that the optimal b value can better model the observed magnitude distribution, compared with two customary methods. For example, given magnitude threshold = 5.0 and maximum magnitude = 8.0, the optimal b value of 0.835 is better than 0.923 from the least-square calculation and 0.913 from maximum likelihood estimation for simulating the earthquake’s magnitude probability distribution around Taiwan.     

Estimating the maximum possible earthquake magnitude using extreme value methodology: the Groningen case

Natural Hazards - Both the river network and the regions outside the estuary mouths in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) of China experienced significant changes from 1999 to 2014. A validated...     

地震作用下丰满重力坝的塑性损伤

基于混凝土塑性损伤本构模型,将可以表征材料和结构渐进破坏的损伤变量作为内变量,考虑了混凝土拉压异性的损伤变量,利用有限元软件ABAQUS,对丰满混凝土重力坝在经受地震作用下的结构损伤区域的发展变化进行安全性评价。在数值计算过程中,对于受地震荷载作用所引起的地面水平运动而导致大坝水位水平运动对坝体的影响,通过扩充后的广义Westergaard公式予以计算模拟。通过分析得到了丰满大坝在地震作用下的塑性损伤破坏情况,并评价了丰满大坝的安全性,亦说明利用损伤力学对大坝进行安全性评价是一个可行的方法。     

重庆北温泉水化学特征对汶川8.0级地震的响应

2008年5月1日至7月4日汶川8.0级地震前后,对距震中约400 km的重庆北温泉7个泉点进行采样监测,发现其水温、水量及水化学特征均发生了较大变化:(1)所有泉点震后水温都下降了1℃左右;(2)海拔相对较高的BWQ-2、BWQ-3、BWQ-4泉点相继断流,而下游海拔较低的BWQ-1泉点水量则增加了15 L/s,BWQ-6泉点水量也有所增加;(3)海拔较低泉点泉水中K~+、Na~+、Ca~(2+)浓度减少,Mg~(2+)浓度增大,且K~+、Na~+、Ca~(2+)浓度呈正相关;Fe~(3+)、Mn~(2+)浓度于地震当日成倍增长,随后逐渐减小,7月4日时浓度与5月1日相当;SO_4~(2-)、F~-浓度增大后逐渐减少.引起北温泉水物理化学变化的主因是:由于汶川强烈地震,导致北温泉区上覆盖层裂隙与下伏温泉含水层裂隙贯通,地表或上覆盖层低温水汇入含水层所致.     

Flooding of the continental shelves as a contributor to deglacial CH4 rise

The transition from the last glacial and beginning of Bølling–Allerød and Pre‐Boreal periods in particular is marked by rapid increases in atmospheric methane (CH₄) concentrations. The CH₄ concentrations reached during these intervals, ～650–750 ppb, is twice that at the last glacial maximum and is not exceeded until the onset of industrialization at the end of the Holocene. Periods of rapid sea‐level rise as the Last Glacial Maximum ice sheets retreated and associated with ‘melt‐water pulses’ appear to coincide with the onset of elevated concentrations of CH₄, suggestive of a potential causative link. Here we identify and outline a mechanism involving the flooding of the continental shelves that were exposed and vegetated during the glacial sea‐level low stand and that can help account for some of these observations. Specifically, we hypothesize that waterlogging (and later, flooding) of large tracts of forest and savanna in the Tropics and Subtropics during the deglacial transition and early Holocene would have resulted in rapid anaerobic decomposition of standing biomass and emission of methane to the atmosphere. This novel mechanism, akin to the consequences of filling new hydroelectric reservoirs, provides a mechanistic explanation for the apparent synchronicity between rate of sea‐level rise and occurrence of elevated concentrations of ice core CH₄. However, shelf flooding and the creation of transient wetlands are unlikely to explain more than ～60 ppb of the increase in atmospheric CH₄ during the deglacial transition, requiring additional mechanisms to explain the bulk of the glacial to interglacial increase. Similarly, this mechanism has the potential also to play some role in the rapid changes in atmospheric methane associated with the Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An example of landslide-inflicted damage to tunnel in the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake

A large number of landslides induced by the 2004 Mid Niigata Prefecture earthquake resulted in the closure of 233 segments of national and prefectural routes in Higashiyama mountain district, and 61 localities were completely isolated. Since railway and road facilities follow closely the motion of soils, damage to these facilities has to be discussed in terms of soil deformations that they experienced. The example of Kizawa tunnel shows that even relatively small soil deformations can be large enough to cause serious cracking of tunnel lining.     

汶川地震后龙门山断裂带活动特征

利用地震后2009~2011年GPS监测数据,获得了龙门山断裂带所在地区2009~2010年、2010~2011年以及2009~2011年GPS测站运动速度场,分析了区域地壳运动总体趋势及形变特征;通过分析龙门山断裂带北段、中段、南段横切剖面的测站运动速度变化,探讨了汶川地震后龙门山断裂带运动特征。分析表明:汶川地震前后,地壳运动总体趋势未变,作顺时旋转;断裂带西侧GPS测站运动速度变大,东侧运动速度变小;龙门山断裂带的断裂性质地震前后都为右旋走滑挤压,断裂带运动速率受汶川地震影响较大,震后运动速率较震前有显著的增加。龙门山断裂带震后各段次级断裂活动不同,中南段以前山断裂运动为主,其它各段以后山断裂运动为主。地震后龙门山断裂带表现出的运动特征主要与地震活动有关。受汶川地震的影响,区域动力学、运动学平衡被打破,龙门山断裂带东侧震后初期弹性回返,表现为低速反向运动。龙门山断裂带西侧震后松弛为拉张区,运动速度加大。地震对断裂带的影响不同,导致断裂带各段及次级断裂表现出不同的运动特征。     

Lateritisation as a possible contributor to gold placers in Nilambur Valley, southwest India

Panning for placer gold in the river beds of Punna Puzha and Chaliyar Puzha in the Nilambur Valley, southwest India, has been in vogue among the local people for the last few centuries. The auriferous quartz veins and reefs associated with the Precambrian migmatitic gneisses of the region had been mined for several years. Of late, Au is also being recovered from the laterite matrix of gravels in the old river terraces and from the residual laterites overlying the gneisses. The size of Au nuggets associated with the laterites is much higher (0.5 mm) than that of the Au in vein quartz (0.2 mm) and the associated heavy minerals in the placers (0.2 mm). The Au nuggets show surface and internal textures characteristic of redeposition under low-temperature conditions. Our field and laboratory investigations suggest that dissolution, transport and redeposition of Au occurred in Nilambur concomitant with the lateritisation process.     

A survey of damage observed in Izmir due to 2020 Samos-Izmir earthquake

Natural Hazards - An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 hit the city of Izmir (Turkey) on 30 October 2020, resulting in 117 deaths (in Turkey) and considerable economic losses. The earthquake also...     

从地质特征分析成都主城区在地震中的安合性

汶川MS 8.0大地震发生后,关于成都市主城区安全性的讨论一度十分激烈。本文从成都市及周边的基本地质构造和沉积特征入手,讨论成都市主城区在地震中的安全性问题。经过分析认为：川西坳陷刚性稳定的岩石圈结构决定了成都平原不会发生破坏性的大地震; 成都平原沉积盖层厚度大、质量佳、分布适宜决定了龙门山发生的地震不会对成都主城区造成巨大破坏。因此,面对天然地震,成都市主城区是安全的。     

从地质特征分析成都主城区在地震中的安合性

汶川MS 8.0大地震发生后,关于成都市主城区安全性的讨论一度十分激烈。本文从成都市及周边的基本地质构造和沉积特征入手,讨论成都市主城区在地震中的安全性问题。经过分析认为：川西坳陷刚性稳定的岩石圈结构决定了成都平原不会发生破坏性的大地震; 成都平原沉积盖层厚度大、质量佳、分布适宜决定了龙门山发生的地震不会对成都主城区造成巨大破坏。因此,面对天然地震,成都市主城区是安全的。