Mantle currents push tectonic plates against each other, building potential energy until plates slip along faults in earthquakes, suddenly releasing kinetic energy and creating seismic waves. The 1968 Meckering earthquake in Western Australia was a magnitude 6.9 thrust earthquake on the Meckering Fault, while the 2010 Christchurch earthquake was a magnitude 4.9 transform earthquake on the Christchurch Fault. Earthquakes originate below ground at a hypocenter, and types of faults include convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries and intraplate faults.

2. Mantle currents push tectonic
plates, Friction locks plates
against each other
Potential energy builds
Plates slip along faults,
Sudden release of kinetic energy
Movement of the ground and
Creation of energy waves

3. Meckering Earthquake

4. • Thrust fault – Meckering Fault
• 1968 6.9 magnitude
• Normal fault – Darling Fault
• 300 million years ago
• Perth basin formation
• Transform fault – Christchurch
fault
• 2010 boxing day 4.9 magnitude

5. • Convergent boundary
• Little to no subduction
• Thrust fault – folding occurs

8. • Faults
• Convergent boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
• Transform boundaries
• Intraplate faults
• Earthquakes begin below the
surface at a focus (hypocentre)
• The surface directly above the
focus is the epicentre
https://earthquakesandplates.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/eqfocus.gif

9. • Seismometer
• Pen remains stationary
• Apparatus moves with the
earth
• Earthquakes recorded as
line graphs of waves
• Magnitude and location
are extrapolated from
multiple recordings

10. • Seismographs are used to
estimate the magnitude of an
earthquake
• Calculated from wave amplitude
and distance from origin
• Magnitudes scales are
logarithmic
• Each magnitude increase
• 10x amplitude increase
• 32x energy increase

11. • Richter Scale
• Developed in 1934
• Best for small – med magnitude
earthquakes
• Less accurate for med – large
earthquakes
• Moment Magnitude Scale
• Can accurately estimate
magnitude for small – large
earthquakes
• Analogous to the Richter scale

12. • Waves travelling through the
Earth’s layers
• Generated by low frequency sound
• Volcanoes, earthquakes, explosions
• Body waves
• Travel through the deep Earth layers
• P-waves
• Compression waves
• S-waves
• Transverse (shear) waves
• Cannot travel through liquids
• Surface waves
• Can only travel on a surface
• Most destructive of the waves

13. • Tsunamis
• Sudden deformation of ocean floor
• Massive displacement of water
• Generation of extremely fast waves
• Barely detectable in deep ocean (long wavelength, low amplitude)
• Devastating along the shallow coast (short wavelength, high amplitude)
• Landslides
• Destruction of infrastructure
• Loss of life

14. • Some densely populated areas
are very close to faults
• Christchurch (NZ)
• Tokyo (Japan)
• Los Angeles (USA)
• Perth

15. • Dampers • Base isolation