GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Rayleigh waves cause both vertical and horizontal ground motion. These can be the most destructive waves as they roll along lifting and dropping the ground as they pass.

Detailed explanation-2: -S waves arrive next and cause a structure to vibrate from side to side. They are the most damaging waves, because buildings are more easily damaged from horizontal motion than from vertical motion.

Detailed explanation-3: -Surface waves are the seismic waves that cause the most damage. Surface waves are named as such because they move along close to the surface of the Earth. Some waves can move side-to-side, causing a twisting action in the ground. These are called Love waves.

Detailed explanation-4: -Surface waves-By a property called dispersion, surface waves of different wave lengths travel at different velocities. It is the surface waves which cause most property damage because surface waves produce more ground movement and travel more slowly, so they take longer to pass.

Detailed explanation-5: -As their name suggests, surface waves travel just below the surface of the ground. Although they move even more slowly than S-waves, they can be much larger in amplitude and are often the most destructive type of seismic wave.