Secondary waves travel at a slower speed than primary waves. Scientists utilize the seismic waves which are recorded on a seismogram. Typically, three seismographs are required to locate the earthquake's epicenter. A great breakdown of the math and measurements are provided on the Michigan Tech University website (Endsley, n.d.). Once the first seismograph reveals the epicenter and magnitude, the other two seismographs will acquire the same information. A circle will be drawn with the radius being equal to the distance from the seismogram to the epicenter. This action will be completed for all three seismograms and the point on the map where all the circles overlap is the approximate area of the epicenter. 2. How is a tsunami similar to or different from a seismic wave? …show more content…
There are two types of seismic waves; body waves, which travel through Earth and surface waves, which travel along Earths surface. Body waves are the secondary waves, often referred to as s waves, which travels at a slower speed. Secondary waves, referred to as P waves travel at high speeds through the Earth’s crust and can often be heard, but not felt. Tsunamis are also caused by earthquakes. There are several ways that they are created, one of which is from friction at the subduction zones. As the subducting plate is overridden by the above plate they get stuck and the subducting plate continues to descend into the Earth’s mantle. During this time period, energy continues to accumulate in the overriding plate. Once the maximum capacity of energy build is reached by the overriding plate it will violently reposition itself, causing a tsunami (Tsunami