Earthquakes and Seismic Waves
Read pages 181 - 187 before answering these questions.!
!
Name:__________________
Introduction (p. 181)
1. The area where rock under stress breaks and triggers an earthquake is called
the __________________.
2. The point on the surface directly above the focus is the __________________.
Types of Seismic Waves (pp. 182–183)
3. What are seismic waves?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. Is the following sentence true or false? Seismic waves carry the energy of an
earthquake away from the focus in all directions. __________________
5. Circle the letter of each term that is a category of seismic wave.
P wave
b. S wave
a.
c. surface wave
d. underground wave
7. Is the following sentence true or false? Surface waves move more quickly
than P waves and S waves. __________________
Earthquakes and Seismic Waves
Read pages 181 - 187 before answering these questions.!
!
Name:__________________
Match the type of wave with its effect.
Type of Wave
Effect
____ 8. P wave
a. shakes buildings from side to side
____ 9. S wave
b. shakes structures violently
____ 10. Surface wave
c. causes the ground to compress and expand
11. An instrument that records and measures seismic waves is a(n)
__________________.
12. List the three scales that are used for measuring earthquakes.
a. ____________________________________
b. ____________________________________
! !
c. ____________________________________
Locating the Epicenter (pp. 186–187)
13. Is the following sentence true or false? IF FALSE, rewrite the sentence
below to make it a true statement.
The closer an earthquake, the greater the time between the arrival of P
waves and the arrival of S waves.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
14. Geologists use circles to find the epicenter of an earthquake.
a. What does the center of each circle represent?
! ! _________________________________________________________
b. What does the radius of each circle represent?
________________________________________________________