GEOL 303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Mercalli Intensity Scale, Epicenter, Love Wave
Document Summary
Waves of compression and the only wave that changes the volume of the rock as it passes through. All other waves change the shape of the rock. Vibrate perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling, thus changing the shape of the rock as it passes through. Rayleigh waves - rotate backward as they travel forward, with the overall effect being an up-and-down motion of the earth"s surface. Love waves - shake the surface in a horizontal (side-to-side) fashion. P-waves are the fastest (~6 km/sec) and arrive first. L-waves are the slowest, but they are associated with the strongest vibrations and are the most destructive. Distance to the epicenter can be determined from the p-s interval. P-s interval - time recorded between the first arrival of the p-wave and the first arrival the s wave. Determining the epicenter distance from three locations allows one to pinpoint the location of the epicenter.
