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    Question ID:   7683         Current Version: 1
Question: What is P wave and what is S wave when earthquake happens?
Category: Science > Earth Sciences
Keywords: P-wave, S-wave, P, S, wave, earthquake
Type: what
Rating:(0 ratings)    Views: 384    Discussions: 0   In Watch Lists: 1  

 
    Answer:

When an earthquake occurs, it releases energy in the form of seismic waves (an elastic wave generated by an impulse such as an earthquake or an explosion) that radiate from the earthquake source in all directions. The different types of energy waves shake the ground in different ways and also travel through the earth at different velocities. The fastest wave, and therefore the first to arrive at a given location, is called the P wave. The P wave, or compressional wave, alternately compresses and expands material in the same direction it is traveling. The S wave is slower than the P wave and arrives next, shaking the ground up and down and back and forth perpendicular to the direction it is traveling. Surface waves, seismic seismic waves that are trapped near the surface of the earth follow the P and S waves.


 

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