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Find The Epicenter

Seismic waves generated by earthquakes can be used to locate the epicenter through triangulation, which involves determining the distance from three recording stations using the difference in arrival times of P and S waves and drawing circles with the distances as radii; alternatively, a distance-time graph can be used to plot the difference in arrival times and read off the corresponding distances. The intersection of the circles or distances indicates the epicenter location.

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76 views31 pages

Find The Epicenter

Seismic waves generated by earthquakes can be used to locate the epicenter through triangulation, which involves determining the distance from three recording stations using the difference in arrival times of P and S waves and drawing circles with the distances as radii; alternatively, a distance-time graph can be used to plot the difference in arrival times and read off the corresponding distances. The intersection of the circles or distances indicates the epicenter location.

Uploaded by

Nathalie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FINDING THE

EPICENTER
What are seismic
waves?
Seismic Waves
The waves that radiate in all
directions out of the released
energy from the movement of
the fault
What are the
different types of
seismic waves?
Seismic
waves

Body Surface
waves waves

Love Rayleigh
P-waves S-waves
waves waves
Love Waves
 Travel along the surface
of the Earth from the point
directly above the
epicenter
 Most damaging type
 Love waves move
transverse to the direction of
the propagation but with no
vertical motion.
Rayleigh Waves
 Travel along the surface of
the earth
 A Rayleigh wave rolls along
the ground just like a wave
rolls across a lake or an ocean.
 Most of the shaking felt from
an earthquake is due to the
Rayleigh wave.
Primary Waves (P-waves)
 Also called as pressure
waves
 Compressional or
longitudinal waves where
the particles vibrate
parallel to the direction
where the wave is
travelling
 Can travel through
solids, liquids and gas
Secondary Waves (S-waves)
 Also called as shear waves
 Transverse waves where
particles vibrate
perpendicular to the
direction where the wave
is travelling
 Slower than P-waves
 Can travel through
solids only
If there are data from three stations, the
exact position of an earthquake epicenter
can be located using the triangulation
method.
What is triangulation
method?
Triangulation Method
A method used by seismologists
wherein data from three recording
stations are gathered to determine the
epicenter of an earthquake
Steps in Determining
the Epicenter of an
Earthquake
Step 1: Obtain
data from three
different
seismological
stations.
Step 2. Determine the difference
in the arrival time of s and p
waves recorded from each of the
seismological stations.
One example is shown below:
P-Waves

S-Waves

Arrival time of Arrival time of S-waves


P-waves (23 (27 Minutes)
Minutes)
Sample Computations
Seismographic P-wave S-Wave Arrival
Station Arrival Time Time (sec.)
(sec.)
Batangas City 20 64
Davao City 15 47
Puerto Princesa 17 55
City
Sample Computations
Seismographic P-wave S-Wave Arrival Lag Time or
Station Arrival Time Time (sec.) Time
(sec.) Difference
(sec.)
Batangas Ciy 20 64 64 – 20 = 44

Davao City 15 47 47 – 15 = 32

Puerto Princesa 17 55 55 – 17 = 38
City
Step 3. Determine the the distance of the epicenter from each
recording station using the formula or the distance-time graph.

d= td x 100 km
8 sec.

Where: d= distance (km)


td= lag time or time
difference of P wave and
S-wave (sec.)
Sample Computations
Seismographic P-wave S-Wave Lag Time or Distance
Station Arrival Arrival Time from City
Time (sec.) Time (sec.) Difference (km)
(sec.)
Batangas City 20 64 64 – 20 = 44 (44/8) x 100 =
550
Davao City 15 47 47 – 15 = 32 (32/8) x 100 =
400
Puerto Princesa City 17 55 55 – 17 = 38 (38/8) x 100 =
475
Step 4. Convert the distance using the scale in the map.
(e.g. 1 cm: 100 km)
RECORDING HOW TO COMPUTE COMPUTED
STATION THE DISTANCE ON DISTANCE
THE MAP ON THE MAP
(cm)
Batangas City (550 km)(1cm/100km) 5.5

Davao City (400 km)(1 cm/100km) 4.0

Puerto Princesa (475 km)(1cm/100km) 4.75


City
Step 5. Draw the
circles. The
converted distance
using the scale will
be the radius. The
intersection of the
three circles is the
epicenter.
Distance-
Time
Graph
Steps in Using the Distance – Time Graph

a)Line up the ruler or a piece of scrap paper vertically on the epicenter distance
given.

b)Mark the locations where the P-wave and S-wave intersect your ruler or scrap
paper.

c)Line up the ruler or scrap paper on the y-axis with one point on the 0 minute mark.

d)The second mark will indicate the difference in arrival time


1. A seismic station is
3000 kilometers from the
epicenter of an
earthquake. How long
will it take P – waves
from this earthquake to
reach the seismic station?
2. It takes P waves 7
minutes to travel from
an epicenter to seismic
station. How far is the
seismic station from the
epicenter?
3. An epicenter of a
station is 3000 km
away. How long
after the first P –
wave did the first S
wave arrive?
Triangulation method uses data from three seismic stations.
The intersection of the three (3) circles means that it is
where the epicenter is located. For a far greater distance, the
distance-time graph can be used wherein two points are
plotted in between S and P waves and directly below these
points is the distance of the epicenter from the recording
station.

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