GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -P-waves has the greatest speed and appears first on seismograms. S-Waves (S stands for secondary or shear or shake). Also known as transverse waves, because particle motions are transverse to the direction of movement of the wavefront, or perpendicular to the ray.

Detailed explanation-2: -P waves travel fastest and are the first to arrive from the earthquake. In S or shear waves, rock oscillates perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. In rock, S waves generally travel about 60% the speed of P waves, and the S wave always arrives after the P wave.

Detailed explanation-3: -The first kind of body wave is the P wave or primary wave. It’s the fastest kind of seismic wave, and the first to arrive at a seismic station. P waves can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the Earth.

Detailed explanation-4: -Generally, p-wave velocity increases with depth and increases with increasing rigidity of a material. Therefore p-waves travel fastest through the solid, iron inner core of Earth.

Detailed explanation-5: -Velocity of Body Waves P-waves will always travel faster than S-waves due to the way they deform the material they are traveling through and the restoring forces of that material. Its also important to understand that S-waves can’t travel through liquids.