If a long period of time passes between the arrival of an earthquakes P waves and S waves, seismologists would infer that the earthquakes

EARTHQUAKES

Please wait while the activity loads.
If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled.

If loading fails, click here to try again

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]

If a long period of time passes between the arrival of an earthquake’s P waves and S waves, seismologists would infer that the earthquake’s

A	epicenter must be very close.
B	magnitude must be very small.
C	epicenter must be far away.
D	magnitude must be very high.

Explanation:

Detailed explanation-1: -As the P and S waves travel out from an earthquake the P waves get progressively farther ahead of the S waves. Therefore, the farther a seismic recording station is from the earthquake epicenter the greater will be the difference in time of arrival between the P and S wave.

Detailed explanation-2: -Both P and S waves travel outward from an earthquake focus inside the earth. The waves are often seen as separate arrivals recorded on seismographs at large distances from the earthquake.

Detailed explanation-3: -With increasing distance from the earthquake the time difference between the arrival of the P waves and the arrival of the S waves increases.

Detailed explanation-4: -Difference in arrival times between P and S waves can be used to determine the distance between the station and an earthquake.

Detailed explanation-5: -The P waves travel faster and shake the ground where you are first. Then the S waves follow and shake the ground also. If you are close to the earthquake, the P and S wave will come one right after the other, but if you are far away, there will be more time between the two.

There is 1 question to complete.

GEOLOGY

EARTH SCIENCE

EARTHQUAKES