The distance of a seismic station from an

earthquake is easily determined from the S -P

interval, the time difference between the time of
arrival of the first P wave and the first S wave.
That’s why we need to record the interval of P
and S Waves.

Let’s fi nd out more in the next activity!

EXPLORE

ACTIVITY 1: LAG TIME!

Using the earthquake chart below, record the p -wave and S - wave. Compute for the
lag time by subtracting S-wave and P-wave.

Finding the epicenter. Retrieved from

Lag Time
Station P-wave S-wave (S-wave –
Pwave)
(153 s-18 s) =
Example: Chicago 18 seconds 153 seconds
135 seconds
Kansas City 59 seconds 165 seconds 106 seconds
Santa Barbara 30 seconds 108 seconds 78 seconds
Seattle 75 seconds 138 seconds 63 seconds
 ACTIVITY 2: HOW FAR I’LL GO?

Directions: Compute for the distance of the epicenter to the different station. Using
the data for Lag Time on Activity 1: Lag Time!

To compute, follow the formula:

𝑻𝒅
𝒅= 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎

𝒌𝒎

𝟖 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔

Where: d=distance (km)

Td= time difference in the arrival time of P-wave and S-wave (Lag Time)
Lag Time (S-wave Distance of the epicenter to
Station
– P-wave) the station (km)
𝟏𝟑𝟓 𝒔
𝒅= 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝒎
Example: Chicago 135 seconds 𝟖 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔

= 1,687.5 km
Kansas City 106 seconds 1,325 km
Santa Barbara 78 seconds 975 km
Seattle 63 seconds 787.5 km

APPLY WHAY YOU HAVE LEARNED

Direction: Locate the epicenter of the earthquake using the triangulation method.

Time difference
Distance of
Recording of the S- wave Distance in cm
epicenter to the
Station and P-wave 1cm = 1000 km
station (km)
(seconds)
Sitka, Alaska 200 seconds 2,500 km 2.5 cm
Charlotte, N.C. 280 seconds 3,500 km 3.5 cm
Honolulu, Hawaii 360 seconds 4,500 km 4.5 cm