Seismic Waves

Seismic Waves

 Theenergy released during an

earthquake
 Generated by tectonic plate movement
or earthquakes when rocks within break
producing a tremendous amount of
energy
 Recorded in a seismograph
Seismologist

A scientist who studies and monitors

earthquakes and seismic waves
Main Types of Seismic Waves

 Body waves
 travel
through the earth’s interior before the surface
waves emitted by the earthquake
 Have a higher frequency than surface waves
 Surface waves
 Easily
distinguished on the seismogram for being the
last waves to arrive due to their lower frequency
 Have lower velocity
 Possesses a larger amplitude
Body Waves
Primary Waves (P-waves)

 Fastest waves
 First to be detected by seismographs
 Can travel at solids, liquids, and gases
 Also known as compressional or longitudinal waves
 Moves alternately by pushing and pulling back the rocks
in the direction of their travel
 The ground shakes back and forth
 Can travel through Earth’s core
Secondary Waves (S-waves)

 Transverse waves
 Also known as shear waves
 Second to arrive at the seismic recording station
 More dangerous due to the higher amplitude causing the ground to
rapidly split
 Can only penetrate solid materials
Surface Waves
Love Waves (L waves)

 Named after Augustus Howard Hough Love

 Move the ground horizontally, causing it to twist
from side to side of their shearing motion
 Have the greatest amplitude which damages
the foundations of structures
 Third wave detected by the seismograph
Rayleigh Waves (R waves)

 Travels slowly than L waves

 Named after Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt)
 Moves the Earth up and down and side-to-side
in the same direction the wave is moving
 Rolling motion
 Propagating circularly along the surface from a
source point
 Observed on both radial and vertical
mechanisms on seismograph
Some of the information which the seismologists have
acquired using the seismic waves to reveal the Earth’s interior

 Seismic waves are generally travelling with depth as they

move faster through the denser materials
 P-waves travel slowly in liquid layers
 Seismic waves move slower in hot areas
 S-waves cannot penetrate the core-mantle boundary
 P-waves are refracted in the molten layer of the outer
core
 P-waves increase in speed upon reaching the inner core
and there is no evidence of S-waves
 The farther from the epicenter, the larger the gap of time between
the arrival of P-waves and S-waves at the seismic station
 The “shadow zone” is developing on the opposite side of the Earth
once the S-waves pass through the liquid core and where no S-
waves are detected
 Some P-waves are reflected off along the boundary between the
inner and solid core
Integration of Faith
and Learning