Casualties' States During Destructive Earthquakes

The index of casualties is introduced for the trapped that is still alive after a destructive earthquake to indicate his (her) injury degree. In order to describe the injury-developing process controlled by three factors: the initial injury degree, the trap surroundings and the physique of the cornered, a function SFC (State-Function of Casualties) can be naturally constructed. Through parameter analysis from eight pieces of figures, it can be found that the trapped with weaker physique and worse initial injury degree and in more adverse trap surroundings deserves sooner rescue.

Paleo and New Earthquakes and Evaluation of North Tabriz Fault Displacement in Relation to Recurrence Interval of Destructive Earthquakes

Azerbaijan is one of the most active segments of the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt and marks the junction between the African-Arabian and Indian plate to the south and Eurasian plate to the north. Several regional earthquakes have been strongly felt and caused damages in and around Tabriz during history. For example, the magnitude 7 to 7.7 Tabriz earthquake in 1780, which is the most strongest experienced one in Lesser Caucasus and east of Turkey and caused severe damage in Azerbaijan territory including Tabriz City. The urban area of Tabriz City lies on Miocene to Quaternary soft sediments （clays, sands, silts, and gravels.） resting on an old Tertiary basement. Previous studies have shown that the thickness of such soft sediments could largely influence the site response in case of an important regional earthquake. The accurate information about historical earthquakes and new faulting is an important tool for viewing the active tectonic and analyzing the earthquake risk and seismic migration. Historical records of earthquakes in Tabriz based on macro and micro seismic observations cover period of 1,000 to 1,400 years. Our study aims at mapping the seismic response of a pilot zone of Tabriz for different earthquake scenarios, a simple but robust.

Main Factors Affecting the Distribution of the Macroscopic Destruction Field of Earthquake

It is proposed that some possible macroseismic epicenters can be determined quickly from the relationship that the microseismic epicenters located by instruments bear with faults. Based on these so-called macroseismic epicenters, we can make fast seismic hazard estimation after a shock by use of the empirical distribution model of seismic intensity. In comparison with the method that uses the microseismic epicenters directly, this approach can increase the precision of fast seismic hazard estimation. Statistical analysis of 133 main earthquakes in China was made. The result shows that the deviation distance between the microseismic epicenter and macroseismic epicenter falls within the range of 35 km for 88 % earthquakes of the total and within the range of 35 to 75 km for the remaining ones. Then, we can take the area that has the microseismic epicenter as its center and is 35 km in radius as the area for emphatic analysis, and take the area within 75 km around the microseismic epicenter as the area for general analysis. The relation between the 66 earthquake cases on the N-S Seismic Belt in China and the spatial distribution characteristics of faults and the results of focal mechanism solution were analyzed in detail. We know from the analysis that the error of instrumental epicenter determination is not the only factor that gives effects to the deviation of the macroseismic epicenter. In addition to it, the fault size, fault distribution, fault activity, fault intersection types, earthquake magnitude, etc. are also main affecting factors. By sorting out, processing and analyzing these affecting factors, the principle and procedures for quickly determining the possible position of the macroseismic epicenter were set up. Taking these as a basis and establishing a nationwide database of faults that contains relevant factors, it is possible to apply this method in practical fast estimation of seismic hazard.

Radio Direction Finding Method to Mitigate Tsunami Risk in Sierra Leone

In this study,the Radio Direction Finding method is proposed for the detection of electromagnetic signals,in the VLF band,to try to anticipate the occurrence of potentially destructive geophysical events.The experimentation concerns the interception of electromagnetic anomalies in Sierra Leone,in the five-day time window,associated with seismic events that could potentially generate tsunamis.The area of investigation is Sierra Leone,whose coastline is subjected to tidal wave hazards triggered by earthquakes generated in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.Although Sierra Leone is not affected by recurrent earthquakes,there is nevertheless a low probability,estimated at 2 percent,of the occurrence of destructive earthquakes in the next 50 years.Also in estimates,the risk of rogue and potentially damaging waves is estimated to strike the Sierra Leone coast at least once in the next 10 years.The Radio Direction Finding experiment carried out continuously 24/7,has shown a close relationship between increased radio-anomalies,in the frequencies of 6,000 Hz,a time window between electromagnetic anomaly detection and the imminence of an earthquake,and higher frequency times for the risk of earthquake occurrence in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Three-dimensional crustal velocity structure model of the middle-eastern north China Craton (HBCrust1.0)

Lithosphere thinning and destruction in the middle-eastern North China Craton(NCC), a region susceptible to strong earthquakes, is one of the research hotspots in solid earth science. All 42 seismic wide-angle reflection/refraction profiles have been completed in the middle-eastern NCC. We collect all the 2-D profiling results and perform gridding of the velocity and interface depth data, building a 3-D crustal velocity structure model for the middle-eastern NCC, named HBCrust1.0, by using the Kriging interpolation method. Our result shows that the first-arrival times calculated by HBCust1.0 fit well with the observations. The result demonstrates that the upper crust is the main seismogenic layer, and the brittle-ductile transition occurs at depths near interface C(the interface between upper and lower crust). The depth of interface Moho varies beneath the source area of the Tangshan earthquake, and a low-velocity structure is found to extend from the source area to the lower crust. Based on these observations, it can be inferred that stress accumulation responsible for the Tangshan earthquake may have been closely related to the migration and deformation of the mantle materials. Comparisons of the average velocities of the whole crust, the upper and the lower crust show that the average velocity of the lower crust under the central part of the North China Basin(NCB) in the east of the craton is obviously higher than the regional average. This high-velocity probably results from long-term underplating of the mantle magma.