Earthquake & Seismic Wave Qs
The arrival of P-waves and S-waves at a seismic station indicated that an earthquake occurred 4,000 kilometers from the station. The P-wave arrived at 3:32:30 p.m. When did the earthquake occur? 1) 3:25:30 p.m. 3) 3:27:00 p.m. 2) 3:32:23 p.m. 4) 3:39:30 p.m.
1
2. A characteristic of compressional waves and shear waves is that they both 1) travel at the same speed 2) travel faster through more dense solid materials 3) travel through liquid and solid materials 4) cause rock particles to vibrate in the same direction
2
Following an earthquake, a seismograph station recorded the arrival of a P-wave at 3:09:30 a.m. and an S-wave at 3:14:00 a.m. What is the distance from the seismograph station to the epicenter of the earthquake? 1) 1,200 km 3) 6,100 km 2) 3,000 km 4) 7,500 km
2
A P-wave takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the epicenter of an earthquake to a seismic station. Approximately how long will an S-wave take to travel from the epicenter of the same earthquake to this seismic station? 1) 6 mm 40 sec 3) 15 mm 00 sec 2) 9 mm 40 sec 4) 19 mm 00 sec
3
A seismic station recorded an earthquake with an epicenter distance of 4,000 kilometers. If the origin time of the earthquake was 11:00 a.m., what time did the P-wave arrive at the seismic station? 1) 10:53 a.m. 3) 11:07 a.m. 2) 11:05 a.m. 4) 11:12 a.m
3
A seismograph station records a difference in arrival time between the S- and P-wave of 4 minutes. About how far away is the earthquake epicenter? 1) 1,000 km 3) 2,600 km 2) 1,900 km 4) 5,200 km
3
How many seismograph stations do you need to locate the exact location of an earthquake?
3
If a seismograph recording station located 5,700 kilometers from an epicenter receives a P-wave at 4:45 p.m., at which time did the earthquake actually occur at the epicenter? 1) 4:24 p.m. 3) 4:36 p.m. 2) 4:29 p.m. 4) 4:56 p.m.
3
Useful information regarding the composition of the interior of the Earth can be derived from earthquakes because earthquake waves 1) release materials from within the Earth 2) travel through the Earth at a constant velocity 3) travel at different rates through different materials 4) change radioactive decay rates of rocks
3
What happens to the velocity of P-waves and S-waves if there is an increase in the density of the materials that they are traveling through? A. The P-waves slow down, but the S-waves speed up. B. The P-waves speed up, but the S-waves slow down. C. Both the P-waves and the S-waves slow down. D. Both the P-waves and the S-waves speed up.
D
Why can P-waves not reach the surface within the Shadow Zone?
Explains in the pic
Why can't S-waves move through the outer core?
S-waves can only move through solids, NOT liquids.
Explain how the speeds of P- & S-waves enable a seismologist to determine the distance to an epicenter.
The closer the arrival times of the P- & S-waves, means the closer to the epicenter & vice versa.
