Can you help me with my physics problem on earthquakes?
May 15, 2010
in
Earthquake Questions
I know: the velocity of the longitudinal p-waves is 8.9 km/s, and that of the transverse s-waves is 5.1 km/s. A seismograph records the arrival of the transverse waves 73 s after the longitudinal waves arrive. How do I figure out how far away the earthquake was?
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
One comment
Bekki B on May 15, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Use your basic rate/time/distance relationships.
distance = s-wave time / s-wave speed
distance = p-wave time / p-wave speed
s-wave time = p-wave time + time delay
3 equations
3 unknowns (distance and the 2 times)
Do some algebra to find your distance.