Vocabulary
This measures how much motion an earthquake creates - it measures the magnitude or intensity of a the highest seismic wave on the seismogram.
What is the Richter Magnitude Scale?
These types of seismic waves do not travel below the surface.
What are surface waves?
The point within the earth where pressure is released and rocks break, sually miles underground. It is the point within the earth's crust where an earthquake originates, where the initial rupture of the fault occurs and seismic waves first start to radiate outwards. it's the underground starting point of the earthquake.
What is the focus?
This is where most earthquakes occur
What is near the edges of tectonic plates?
This measures how an earthquake is felt by people and how much damage is created. It is more subjective.
What is the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale?
These types of seismic waves travel through the Earth's interior.
What are body waves?
The point on the Earth's surface directly above the location where the earthquake originates.
What is the epicenter?
How many times greater in intensity is a wave which measured 6.5 on the richter scale as compared to one which measured 4.5?
What is 102 = 100 times greater?
These seismic waves travel so as to deflect material side-to-side, at right angle to the motion of the wave, called transversal motion.
What are S waves?
An instrument that detects and records earthquakes by measuring the motion of a mass relative to a fixed base.
What isa seismograph?
A process by which a granular material temporarily loses its strength and transforms into a semi-liquified state, caused by earthquake shaking.
What is liquefaction?
How many times greater in intensity is a wave which measured 6.5 on the richter scale as compared to one which measured 4.2?
What is 102.2 = 158 times greater?
These seismic waves travel so as to deflect material back-and-forth, in the same direction as the motion of the wave itself, called longoitudinal motion.
What are P waves?
Smaller earthquakes that follow the main earthquake in the same place as the mainshock.
What are aftershocks?
Earthquakes do not happen along the boundaries of ___________ plates.
What are divergent plates?
Describe how the difference in arrival times of seismic waves can be used to determine the epicenter? Be sure to include how many stations are required.
he time difference between the arrival of the faster P wave and the slower S wave at each station is used to calculate the distance to the earthquake.
For each station, a circle is drawn on a map with the radius equal to the calculated distance to the earthquake.
The epicenter is located where the circles drawn from three different stations intersect.
These types of seismic body waves cannot travel through liquid.
What are S waves?
The general name of seismic waves which travel through the Earth's interior.
and
The general name of seismic waves which travel on the Earth's surface.
What are body waves?
What are surface waves?
List and describe both types of seismic surface waves that move through the Earth's surface after an earthquake.
What is Love waves and Rayleigh waves?
Love waves: Move horizontally, shaking the ground side to side. They travel at almost 10,000 miles per hour. Love waves can cause more damage to rigid structures like bridges and skyscrapers than Rayleigh waves.
Rayleigh waves: Move in acircular pattern, with both vertical and horizontal motion. They are the slowest seismic waves, traveling at about 7,800 miles per hour. Rayleigh waves are responsible for most of the shaking felt during an earthquake.