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Rotation of vertically oriented objects during earthquakes

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Abstract

Vertically oriented objects, such as tombstones, monuments, columns, and stone lanterns, are often observed to shift and rotate during earthquake ground motion. Such observations are usually limited to the mesoseismal zone. Whether near-field rotational ground motion components are necessary in addition to pure translational movements to explain the observed rotations is an open question. We summarize rotation data from seven earthquakes between 1925 and 2009 and perform analog and numeric rotation testing with vertically oriented objects. The free-rocking motion of a marble block on a sliding table is disturbed by a pulse in the direction orthogonal to the rocking motion. When the impulse is sufficiently strong and occurs at the ‘right’ moment, it induces significant rotation of the block. Numeric experiments of a free-rocking block show that the initiation of vertical block rotation by a cycloidal acceleration pulse applied orthogonal to the rocking axis depends on the amplitude of the pulse and its phase relation to the rocking cycle. Rotation occurs when the pulse acceleration exceeds the threshold necessary to provoke rocking of a resting block, and the rocking block approaches its equilibrium position. Experiments with blocks subjected to full 3D strong motion signals measured during the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake confirm the observations from the tests with analytic ground motions. Significant differences in the rotational behavior of a monolithic block and two stacked blocks exist.

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Acknowledgments

I thank C. Fleischer for the help with the set up of the analog experiment and the institute’s workshop for building the sliding table. S. Dietz helped with the collection of the rotation data from literature and H. Kehmeier with editing the references. I am very thankful to S.K. Reamer for the stimulating discussions and the critical reading of the manuscript. The strong motion data of the L’Aquila earthquake were accessed through the Italian Accelerometric Archive at http://itaca.mi.ingv.it/ItacaNet/, last accessed December 2009. Two anonymous reviewers made very helpful suggestions which greatly improved the original manuscript during the review process.

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  1. Earthquake Geology and Archaeoseismology Group, Cologne University, Vinzenz-Pallotti-Str. 26, 51429, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

    Klaus-G. Hinzen

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Hinzen, KG. Rotation of vertically oriented objects during earthquakes. J Seismol 16, 797–814 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-011-9255-6

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