Only very strong shaking can break a tree
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Abstract
A handful of credible accounts, both recent and historical, describe trees being broken during earthquakes. Apart from landslides and tsunamis, such accounts are uncommon, suggesting that trees break only when ground acceleration is extreme or when trees are especially vulnerable to breakage. Here, I consider the question: what ground acceleration is required to break a living tree? I present simplified first‐principles calculations, considering the properties of common trees, focusing on tall, thin trees that can be approximated as uniform vertical cantilevers. The results suggest that, possibly excepting tall trees with heavy canopies, standing trees can only be broken by shaking approaching or exceeding 1g, as anticipated by the rarity of documented accounts of snapped trees. I briefly consider several well‐documented instances of tree damage during strong earthquakes, drawing inferences about local ground motions.
Suggested Citation
Hough, S.E., 2026, Only very strong shaking can break a tree: The Seismic Record, v. 6, no. 2, p. 138-146, https://doi.org/10.1785/0320250036.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Only very strong shaking can break a tree |
| Series title | The Seismic Record |
| DOI | 10.1785/0320250036 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication Date | April 01, 2026 |
| Year Published | 2026 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Seismological Society of America |
| Contributing office(s) | Earthquake Science Center |
| Description | 9 p. |
| First page | 138 |
| Last page | 146 |