Locating An

Earthquake
Grade 10 Earth and Space Science
ENGAGE

From the previous lessons, you have learned

that Seismographs are used to detect and
record earthquakes. But have you ever
wondered how they are used by scientists?
From the previous
lessons, you have learned
that Seismographs are
This is supposedly the picture of
used to detect and record seismograph with a researcher using it.

earthquakes. But have

you ever wondered how
they are used by
scientists?

ENGAG
ACTIVITY 1
The sample seismograph below shows the pattern of waves
detected by a seismometer.

P wave S wave
 As you already know, scientists
use Seismographs to detect and

EXPLORE
record earthquakes. These
instruments can receive
vibrations of Primary (P-waves),
Secondary(S-waves), and Long
surface waves (L-waves).
Interactive
 P-waves and S-waves travel
through the earth’s interior, while

EXPLORE
surface waves travel through the
surface. They have different
velocities, thus they don’t arrive in
the seismic stations at the same
time.
Interactive
 One way to determine how far is
the epicenter from the seismic

EXPLORE
station is through the use of
Triangulation Method. To
understand this, follow the
instructions for the simulation
below.
Interactive
1. This method requires three seismic recording stations to be able to
pinpoint the location of the epicenter. Below are the records of earthquake
waves from 3 different seismic recording stations.
 
Recordin Distance of the seismic
Time difference in the station from the
g station epicenter (Km)
arrival of P and S-wave
(seconds)
Puerto 32
Princesa
Batangas 44.8
 
Davao 38.4
Column 1 shows the location of the 3 seismic
recording stations.

Column 2 shows the time difference in the

arrival of P and S-wave.
2. From the given data, use the following formula to calculate
for the distance of each seismic station from the epicenter
(km). Type your answer on the table.
Where:
d = distance (km)
d=
Td = time difference in the arrival
of P-wave and S-wave (seconds)

8 seconds = the interval between

the arrival of the p-wave and s-
wave at a distance of 100km
Type your answer on the table.
 
Recording Distance of the
Time difference in the arrival of P seismic station from
station and S-wave (seconds) the epicenter (Km)
Puerto 32 Enter the answer
Princesa
Batangas 44.8
Enter the answer
 
Davao 38.4
Enter the answer
 
3. After completing the table, we can now
use the data to determine the epicenter.
Let’s start with Puerto Princesa. Look for
the Puerto Princesa on the map. Click on
its red button once you found it.
4. Next, click on the computed
distance of Puerto Princesa
from the third column of the
table.
 Recording  P wave time of arrival — S Distance of the
station seismic station from
wave Time of arrival
the epicenter (Km)
(seconds)
Puerto 32 400
Princesa
Batangas 44.8 560
 
Davao 38.4 480
  Set the
compass
Draw a circle
560KM
400KM
480KM
5. Then, click the Set the
compass button beside the
map.
 560KM Set the compass
 

Draw a circle

 
400KM

 
480KM
6. Lastly, form a circle from the given
distance by clicking on the Draw a circle
button.
  
560KM Set the compass

Draw a circle

400K
M

 
480K
M
7. Do the same procedures
for Batangas and Davao.
EXPLAI
Whenever there’s an
earthquake, the news
reports two important
details; the magnitude
of the earthquake and
the location of its
epicenter.
Knowing where the
epicenter is located helps
us to know if the
earthquake may have
affected heavily populated
areas. In the previous
activity, you learned how to
locate the epicenter of an
earthquake using the
Triangulation Method.
Triangulation method is a way to determine an
earthquake’s epicenter by using selected
seismograms from three seismograph
stations.
When an earthquake occurs, seismic waves
radiate out from the focus and cause
vibrations on the earth’s surface.
P-waves travel at a rate of 6 km/second
S-waves travel at a rate of 4 km/second
P- wave travels faster than the S-wave, therefore P-waves
will arrive at a given seismograph station sooner than S-
waves.
The time difference between when the P waves arrive at a
seismograph station and when the S waves arrive at the same station
is called Time Lag.
It is important to get the Time lag to determine the location of the
epicenter of an earthquake.
After getting the time lag for a particular
seismograph station, we can then determine its
distance from the earthquake epicenter with the
use of this formula:
At each station, we can draw a circle on a
map that has a radius equal to the distance to
the epicenter from each seismograph station.

The three circles will intersect in a point

that locates the epicenter of the
earthquake.
ELABORAT
E
But what if the

earthquake is too far

from the seismic

ELABORAT
E
Seismologists would use the

distance-time graph in determi

the location of the epicenter.

Look at the sample below:

ELABORAT
E
The graph shows the
time (in minutes) and
the distance (in
kilometres) travelled
by the s and the p-
waves.
ELABORAT
E
The distance-time
graph above shows
that the S-P interva
is 5 minutes.
ELABORAT
E
The distance of the
epicenter from the
seismic station is
3,500km.
 ELABOR
ATE
In the Philippines, the
Seismological
Observation and
Earthquake Prediction
Division, also known as
SOEPD is the one in
charge of monitoring of
earthquakes and
tsunamis.
 ELABOR
ATE
According to PHILVOCS, the
network consists of 29
manned stations, 30
unmanned stations and 6
volcanological observatories.
 ELABOR
ATE
Earthquakes happen almost everyday around the
world, but most of us are completely unaware of
them because most of it have smaller
magnitudes. Most especially in the Philippines,
knowing that it lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire,
it causes the country to have frequent seismic
and volcanic activities.
 ELABOR
If you want ATE
to get the latest seismic events in the
Philippines, you can visit
https://earthquake.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/ .
Regularly, the website gives the latest seismic
activities anywhere in the Philippines.
 ELABOR
ATE
Thoughts to ponder:

Why is it important to
monitor and to get updates
about the seismic events in
the Philippines? How do you
think this would help you?