LOCATING EARTHQUAKE’s EPICENTER

The epicenter, is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocentre or
focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates. In seismology, the
epicenter is the point on the Earth's surface directly above the point where the fault begins to
rupture, and in most cases, it is the area of greatest damage. During an earthquake seismic
waves propagate spherically out from the hypocenter. Seismic shadowing occurs on the
opposite side of the Earth from the earthquake epicenter because the liquid outer core refracts
the longitudinal or compressional (P-waves) while it absorbs the transverse or shear waves
(S-waves). Outside of the seismic shadow zone both types of wave can be detected but, due
to their different velocities and paths through the Earth, they arrive at different times. By
measuring the time difference on any seismograph as well as the distance on a travel-time
graph at which the P-wave and S-wave have the same separation, geoscientists can calculate
the distance to the earthquake's epicenter. This distance is called the epicentral distance,
commonly measured in (degrees) and denoted as Δ (delta) in seismology.

Epicentral distance:

Once epicentral distances have been calculated from at least three

seismographic measuring stations, it is a simple matter to find out where the epicenter was
located using trilateration. In geometry, trilateration is the process of determining absolute or
relative locations of points by measurement of distances, using the geometry of circles,
spheres or triangles.

Locating Earthquake's Epicenter?

To figure out just where that earthquake happened, you need to look at your seismogram and
you need to know what at least two other seismographs recorded for the same earthquake.
You will also need a map of the world, a ruler, a pencil, and a compass for drawing circles on
the map.

Example of a Seismogram:
One minute intervals are marked by the small lines printed just above the squiggles made by
the seismic waves (the time may be marked differently on some seismographs). The distance
between the beginning of the first P wave and the first S wave tells you how many seconds
the waves are apart. This number will be used to tell you how far your seismograph is from
the epicenter of the earthquake.

One minute intervals are marked by the small lines printed just above the squiggles made by
the seismic waves (the time may be marked differently on some seismographs). The distance
between the beginning of the first P wave and the first S wave tells you how many seconds
the waves are apart. This number will be used to tell you how far your seismograph is from
the epicenter of the earthquake.
 Measure the distance between the first P wave and the first S wave. In this case, the first P
and S waves are 24 seconds apart.
 Find the point for 24 seconds on the left side of the chart below and mark that point.
According to the chart, this earthquake's epicenter was 215 kilometers away.
 Measure the amplitude of the strongest wave. The amplitude is the height (on paper) of
the strongest wave. On this seismogram, the amplitude is 23 millimeters. Find 23 millimeters
on the right side of the chart and mark that point.
 Place a ruler (or straight edge) on the chart between the points you marked for the
distance to the epicenter and the amplitude. The point where your ruler crosses the middle
line on the chart marks the magnitude (strength) of the earthquake. This earthquake had a
magnitude of 5.0.
Earthquakes produces “longitudinal primary waves (P-waves) and “transverse secondary
waves (S-wave). Large earthquakes also produce Surface waves which are most damaging to
life and property. P- and S-waves travel through the Earth at different speeds and the different
arrival times of the waves can help us to locate where the epicentre of an earthquake was. A
P-wave will arrive first and S-wave will arrive second. The time difference between the two
is directly related to the distance of earthquake was from the seismic recording station.

The following Figure shows the arrival times of the P- and S-waves from an earthquake at
three different seismic recording stations.
This figure shows a graph potting the relationship between the difference in P- and S-wave
arrival times and the distance from the earthquake epicentre.
Use the information provided to determine the distance each seismic station is from the
epicenter of the earthquakes. Plot these distances on the map on the following Figure to work
out where the earthquake epicentre was.