Group no: ______________ Date performed: _________________

Date submitted: _________________

Activity 1: The Epicenter
Directions: Locate the epicenter of an earthquake using the triangulation method. Follow the
procedure below. Use a compass and a pencil.

Procedure:
1. Using a Philippine Map, locate the epicenter of an earthquake.
2. Center your compass at the station you have chosen. Set your compass on the computed
distance.
Draw a circle.
3. You should get three circles that intersect or nearly intersect at a point. This intersection is the
EPICENTER.
4. Circle the epicenters in RED.

Time difference in the arrival

Distance of Epicenter from
Recording Station time of P-Wave and S-Wave
the station (km)
(seconds)
Batangas 38.4 480
Puerto Princesa 53.6 670
Davao 28 350

From Activity:
1. Where is the epicenter of this hypothetical earthquake?
2. Which province on the map is closest to the earthquake epicenter? How far in kilometers is this
province from the epicenter?
3. In which of the 3 provinces listed in the data table would seismograph detect the earthquake
first? last?
4. What happens to the difference in the arrival time between P wave and S wave as the distance
from the earthquake increases?
5. What difficulty will you encounter if you only have data from the two recording stations?