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    Locating The Epicenter

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    ndramoneda
    1) The focus is the exact location of an earthquake below ground, while the epicenter is the point directly above on the surface. 2) Locating an epicenter requires seismic readings from at least 3 stations and a travel-time graph showing P and S wave speeds. 3) The difference in P and S wave arrival times at each station indicates the distance to the epicenter, which is determined through triangulation of the distance circles drawn around each station.

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    Locating The Epicenter

    Uploaded by

    ndramoneda
    246 views10 pages
    1) The focus is the exact location of an earthquake below ground, while the epicenter is the point directly above on the surface. 2) Locating an epicenter requires seismic readings from at least 3 stations and a travel-time graph showing P and S wave speeds. 3) The difference in P and S wave arrival times at each station indicates the distance to the epicenter, which is determined through triangulation of the distance circles drawn around each station.

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    Locating the Epicenter

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    Locating the Epicenter

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    1) The focus is the exact location of an earthquake below ground, while the epicenter is the point directly above on the surface. 2) Locating an epicenter requires seismic readings from at least 3 stations and a travel-time graph showing P and S wave speeds. 3) The difference in P and S wave arrival times at each station indicates the distance to the epicenter, which is determined through triangulation of the distance circles drawn around each station.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    246 views10 pages

    Locating The Epicenter

    Uploaded by

    ndramoneda
    1) The focus is the exact location of an earthquake below ground, while the epicenter is the point directly above on the surface. 2) Locating an epicenter requires seismic readings from at least 3 stations and a travel-time graph showing P and S wave speeds. 3) The difference in P and S wave arrival times at each station indicates the distance to the epicenter, which is determined through triangulation of the distance circles drawn around each station.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 10

    Locating the Epicenter

     The source of an earthquake is called the focus, which is an


    exact location within Earth were seismic waves are generated
    by sudden release of stored elastic energy. The epicenter is the
    point on the surface of Earth directly above the focus. This is
    the location that scientist calculate. The focus is directly
    below, however, scientist can not determine its depth.

     To locate the position of an earthquakes epicenter, we need a


    seismogram reading from at least three different seismograph
    stations and a travel - time graph which shows the speed of
    both P- and S-waves.
    Locating the Epicenter
    Step 1: 3 Seismogram Records
     Find the difference in arrival time between the P-wave and
    the S-wave.
     To do this refer to each of the three seismogram readings and
    record arrival times for P-wave and S-wave.

     One example is shown below:


    P-Waves S-Waves

    Arrival time Arrival time


    of P-waves of S-waves
    (23 Minutes) (27 Minutes)
    Locating the Epicenter
    Step 2: Record Difference in Arrival Times
     Subtract the arrival time of the S-wave from the arrival time
    of the P-wave.
     27 minutes – 23 minutes = 4 minutes

     Thus, the S-wave arrived 4 minutes after the P-wave.


     Next you plot 4 minutes on the
    travel-time graph.
    Locating the Epicenter
    Step 2: Record Difference in Arrival Times
     Subtract the arrival time of the S-wave from the arrival time
    of the P-wave.
     27 minutes – 23 minutes = 4 minutes

     Thus, the S-wave arrived 4 minutes after the P-wave.


     Next you plot 4 minutes on the
    travel-time graph.
     Slide the red line representing
    4 minutes up between the P-wave
    and S-wave lines until it fits
    between the two lines.
    Locating the Epicenter
    Step 2: Record Difference in Arrival Times
     Subtract the arrival time of the P-wave from the arrival time
    of the S-wave.
     27 minutes – 23 minutes = 4 minutes
     Thus, the S-wave arrived 4 minutes after the P-wave.
     Next you plot 4 minutes on the
    travel-time graph.
     Slide the red line representing
    4 minutes up between the P-wave
    and S-wave lines until it fits
    between the two lines.
     Read off the distance below.
    Distance = 2500 km.
    Locating the Epicenter
    Step 3: Record Distance to the Epicenter:
     The S-P interval tells us the distance to the epicenter from each
    seismograph station where the earthquake was recorded.

     The epicenter of the earthquake is


    located 2500 kilometers from the
    first seismograph station.

     You need to do the same procedure


    for two other seismograph stations.

     Seismograph station 1 = 2500 km


    Assume that the other readings are:
    Seismograph station 2 = 3500 km
    Seismograph station 3 = 4500km 3500 km 4500 km
    Locating the Epicenter
    Step 4: Use Triangulation to Pin Point the Epicenter:
     The distance to the epicenter from each seismograph station is;
    Station #1 -- d1 = 2500km
    Station #2 -- d2 = 3500km
    Station #3 -- d3 = 4500km
     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.
     Three such circles will intersect
    in a point that locates the
    epicenter of the earthquake.
    Sample Problem
    The table below provides information collected at seismic stations A,
    B, and C for the same earthquake.

    Seismic P - Wave Arrival S - Wave Arrival Diffe rence in Distance to


    Station Time Time Arrival Times Epicente r (km)
    A 08:48:30 No S - waves
    B 08:42:00 00:04:30
    C 08:46:00 2000
    3500

    Answer:
    (i) Why are no S - waves recorded at station A?
    No S-waves are recorded at station “A” because station
    “A” is located in a shadow zone, an area 103E - 143E
    from the earthquake epicenter.
    Sample Problem
    The table below provides information collected at seismic stations A,
    B, and C for the same earthquake.

    Seismic P - Wave Arrival S - Wave Arrival Diffe rence in Distance to


    Station Time Time Arrival Times Epicente r (km)
    A 08:48:30 No S - waves
    B 08:42:00 00:04:30
    C 08:46:00 2000
    3500

    Answer:
    (ii) What is the distance from station B to the epicenter?
    The difference in arrival time between P-wave and S-wave is 4 min.
    and 30 sec. (00:04:30). Graph this on the time scale (5 blocks) and
    find the position between the P- and S-wave lines. Then read off the
    distance on the x-axis as shown in the diagram.
    Sample Problem
    The table below provides information collected at seismic stations A,
    B, and C for the same earthquake.

    Seismic P - Wave Arrival S - Wave Arrival Diffe rence in Distance to


    Station Time Time Arrival Times Epicente r (km)
    A 08:48:30 No S - waves
    B 08:42:00 00:04:30
    C 08:46:00 2000
    3500

    Answer:
    (iii) What is the arrival time of the S - wave for station C?
    Locate 2000km on the diagram and draw a line straight up until you
    intersect the S-wave line, (as indicated by blue arrow). Then draw a
    line horizontally left to intersect the travel-time (y-axis) axis, and read
    off the time (as indicated by the red arrow).
    Arrival time of the S-wave at 2000km would be 7 minutes.

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