EARTHQUAKE WAVES

• Broadly speaking the Earthquake waves are of two types-

A. Surface waves - they flow from the epicenter on the surface and are
responsible for causing vibrations on the Earth’s surface.
B. Body Waves- they flow through the interior of the Earth.
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• For this discussion body waves are most important as these waves
travel through the entire interior of the earth and study of their
movement and direction is source of internal composition and
structure of Earth.
• Body waves are of two types.
• They are called as P waves and S waves.
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• P waves-these are called Primary waves/push and pull
waves/longitudinal waves (i.e. direction of vibration is parallel to
direction of propagation). These P-waves have specific properties like:
1. P-waves move faster and are the first to arrive at the surface.
That’s why these are called primary waves.
2. The P-waves are similar to sound waves. They travel through
gaseous, liquid and solid materials.
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
3. There speed varies according to the density of medium they
travel through. Their speed is directly proportional to the density of
the material they travel through.
4. These waves refract from their path when they enter into
different density zone.
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
# It has been observed that P waves take about 21 minutes to travel
from Epicenter to Antipodal point (point diametrically opposite to
Epicenter).
• Direction of oscillation diagram-
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• S-waves –These are called Secondary waves/transverse waves (i.e.
direction of vibration is perpendicular to direction of
propagation)/distortional waves. These have following specific
properties:
1. These waves arrive at the surface with some time lag, just after P
wave. That is why these are called secondary waves.
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
2. They can travel only through solid materials and are lost in liquid
and gaseous medium.
3. These also refract with the slight change in density and solidity of
the rocky medium.
4. These are similar to light waves.

For a given solid medium,

Velocity of Primary waves is
almost twice that of velocity
of Secondary waves.
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• These characteristics of the P waves and S-waves are quite important.
These have helped scientists to understand the structure of the
interior of the earth.
• Reflection causes waves to rebound whereas refraction makes waves
move in different directions.
• The variations in the direction of waves are inferred with the help of
their record on seismograph.
PROPAGATION OF EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• Different types of earthquake waves travel in different manners. As
they move or propagate, they cause vibration in the body of the rocks
through which they pass.
• P-waves vibrate parallel to the direction of the wave. This exerts
pressure on the material in the direction of the propagation as it is a
longitudinal wave.
• As a result, it creates density 'differences in the material leading to
stretching and squeezing of the material.
PROPAGATION OF EARTHQUAKE WAVES
• S waves vibrate perpendicular to the direction of propagation. The
direction of vibrations of S-waves is perpendicular to the wave
direction in the vertical plane.
• Hence, they create troughs and crests in the material through which
they pass.
• With the help of seismic waves we derive that earth’s interior is not
made of homogeneous medium.
• The earthquake wave would have travelled on straight path with
uniform velocity had the earth’s interior been made up of uniform
density.
PROPAGATION OF EARTHQUAKE WAVES
EMERGENCE OF SHADOW ZONES
• As we know that density increases with increasing depth in the
interior that’s why velocity of waves also increases as per their
property.
• It proves that there are varied density zones in interior which causes
refraction in waves and waves get their curved path as shown in
adjoining diagrams.
EMERGENCE OF SHADOW ZONES
EMERGENCE OF SHADOW ZONES
• Earthquake waves get recorded in seismographs located at far off
locations. However, there exist some specific areas where the waves
are not reported. Such a zone is called the ‘Shadow zone’. This is
depicted in adjoining diagrams.
• It was observed that seismographs located at any distance within 105
° from the epicenter, recorded the arrival of both P and S-waves.
• However, the seismographs located beyond 145 ° from epicenter
record the arrival of P-waves, but not that of S-waves.
EMERGENCE OF SHADOW ZONES
• Thus, a zone between 105 ° and 145 ° from epicenter was identified
as the shadow zone for both the types of waves. The entire zone
beyond 105 ° does not receive S-waves.
• The shadow zone of S-wave is much larger than that of the P-waves.
• The shadow zone of P-waves appears as a band around the earth
between 105 ° and 145 ° away from the epicenter.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
• Structure of Earth reflects vertical arrangement of different layers
of Earth. These different layers of earth are identified and
differentiated on the basis of their chemical composition, density
and state of rocks. They are broadly classified into two categories
viz.
• a) Major layers,
• b) Discontinuities.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Major layers are:
• Crust
• Mantle
• Core
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Thickness Major Layers State of rocks Density of each
layer keeps on
0-40 km Crust Solid increasing as we
move from the
40-2900 km Mantle Solid
surface towards
2900-5150 km Outer Core Liquid the core. The
density of the
core is the
highest.
5150-6380 km Inner Core Solid
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Crust
• Crust is upper most layer of the earth’s surface.
• It is in solid state. It has the thickness of 0 to 5 kilometers under
oceans and up to 70-80 kilometers under continents.
• Therefore, Oceanic crust is thinner as compared to the continental
crust. Horizontally, crust is divided into three- Oceanic crust,
Continental crust and Transitional crust.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Crust
• Oceanic crust is found below the oceans. It is almost 0 Km thick along
with Mid Oceanic Ridge.
• Continental crust is found below the continents and it is thickest
under mountains like Mt. Everest.
• Transitional crust is found in peripheral areas of the continents and
oceans.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Crust
Vertically, Crust is divided in to two parts:
a. Upper crust –It is made up of sedimentary rock at the top and
Granitic rock at the bottom. It is separated from lower crust by Conrad
discontinuity, traced at the depth of 10 to 30 kilometer.
b. Lower crust-it is mainly made up off basaltic rocks. Velocity of
seismic waves is faster in this than that of upper crust.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Mantle
• It starts from below the lower crust. It is in solid state.
• The upper portion of the mantle is called asthenosphere.
• The word astheno means weak. It is considered to be extending up to
400 km.
• It is the main source of magma that finds its way to the surface during
volcanic eruptions.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Mantle
• Zone of separation between lower crust and Mantle is called
“Mohorovicic discontinuity” or simply called as “Moho
Discontinuity”. It goes up to the depth of 2900 kilometers.
• Mantle is also divided into Upper and Lower Mantle separated by
Repiti discontinuity. Lower mantle is relatively very thick. It extends
from 700 to 2900 Km.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Core
• It is separated from Lower Mantle by Gutenburg Channel. It extends
from 2900 Km to 6371 Km.
• The Core is made up of very heavy material mostly constituted by
nickel and iron. It is sometimes referred to as the nife layer.
• It is also divided by Lehmann discontinuity into Outer and Inner core.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Core
• Outer core extends from 2900 to 5150 Km.
• It is the only layer in the interior which is in molten state.
• S waves are not able to pass through this and P waves are refracted
from its paths drastically while passing through this medium.
• It is the source of Magnetic property of the earth also.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH
Core
• Inner Core extends from 5150 Km to 6370 Km. It is the densest layer
of the interior of earth.
• P waves record their maximum velocity while passing through this
layer. It is in solid state.