Seismic Waves

Seismic waves
 From Greek ‘seismos’ meaning ‘earthquake’
 are the waves of energy caused by the sudden breaking of rock
within the earth or an explosion. They are the energy that travels
through the earth and is recorded on seismographs.
Most Dangerous Seismic Wave
 Surface Wave
 S- Waves

Why Seismic Waves are important?

 Provide a snapshot of the Earth’s Internal Structure.
 Help us to locate and understand fault planes, stresses and strains acting on them.
 Used on a small scale by explosions or ground vibrations in the search for oil and gas.
Trivia:
 The first person to discover earthquake (science
of earthquake )

 John Michell 1724- 1793 ( British

engineer,geologist and astronomer)

 “Shifting masses of rock miles below the surface”

Seismoscope
 instrument that gives a qualitative measure of the oscillatory motion produced by an
earthquakes or other disturbance of the earth’s surface.
Seismology
 is the study of earthquakes and seismic waves that move
through and around the earth.

Earthquake
 Shaking of the ground cause by a release of an energy
from beneath it.
Types of Seismic Waves
Body Waves
- Primary Waves (P-Wave)
- Secondary Waves (S-Wave)
 Surface Waves
- Love Waves
- Rayleigh Waves
Body Waves
Body waves
 Are waves that travel from the focus through the body of the Earth.
(underground)
 body waves arrive before the surface waves emitted by an earthquake.
These waves are of a higher frequency than surface waves.
P-Wave ( primary waves )
 Fastest Seismic Wave
 Compressional waves
 Longitudinal Waves
 Move through solid rocks, fluids and some gases
S-Wave

 An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock,but not
through any liquids or gases. It is the property of S waves that led seismologists to
conclude that the Earth's outer core is a liquid.
 It travels about 2-5 km/sec
Surface Waves
Surface Waves
 are of a lower frequency than body waves, and are easily distinguished on a
seismogram as a result. Though they arrive after body waves, it is surface
waves that are almost entirely responsible for the damage and destruction
associated with earthquakes. This damage and the strength of the surface
waves are reduced in deeper earthquakes.
Love wave
 The first kind of surface wave is called a Love wave,
named after A.E.H. Love, (Augustus Edward Hough
Love) a British mathematician who worked out the
mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911. It's
the fastest surface wave and moves the ground from
side-to-side. Confined to the surface of the crust, Love
waves produce entirely horizontal motion.
Rayleigh wave
named for John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, who
mathematically predicted the existence of this kind of
wave in 1885. A Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground
just like a wave rolls across a lake or an ocean. Because
it rolls, it moves the ground up and down, and side-to-
side in the same direction that the wave is moving. Most
of the shaking felt from an earthquake