What are P and S and L waves?

P, S and L waves refer to Primary, Secondary and Longitudinal waves. L is also the first letter in Love waves. See explanation.

Which of the 3 types of seismic waves cause the most damage?

S waves are more dangerous than P waves because they have greater amplitude and produce vertical and horizontal motion of the ground surface. The slowest waves, surface waves, arrive last. They travel only along the surface of the Earth. There are two types of surface waves: Love and Rayleigh waves.

What are p type and S type seismic waves?

They are called primary waves because they are the first type of wave to arrive at seismic recording stations. P waves can travel through solids, liquids, and even gases. S waves shake the ground in a shearing, or crosswise, motion that is perpendicular to the direction of travel.

What are 5 types of seismic waves?

Two types of particle motion result in two types of body waves: Primary and Secondary waves.

• Primary waves.
• Secondary waves.
• Rayleigh waves.
• Love waves.
• Stoneley waves.
• Normal modes.

What are 3 differences between P waves and S waves?

There are two types of seismic waves : Body waves. Surface waves….Difference between s waves and p waves.

P waves	S waves
The first wave to hit seismographs	Second waves to hit seismographs
They are compression waves	They are shear waves
Can move through solids and liquids	Can only move through solids

How are S and P waves similar?

How are S waves and P waves similar? They shake the ground. They travel through liquids. They arrive at the same time.

Are Love or Rayleigh waves more destructive?

Answer and Explanation: While both types of surface waves are dangerous, Love waves cause more damage than Rayleigh waves.

What is primary and secondary waves?

Primary (P) and secondary (S) waves are two types of waves caused by earthquakes. They are defined based on when they arrive and are felt on the surface. P waves, or primary waves, arrive first while S waves, or secondary waves, arrive second. Both waves cause the ground to shake when an earthquake occurs.

What are L seismic waves?

Love (L) waves are shear waves where the shearing (back and forth) motion, is confined to a horizontal plane at the Earth’s surface.

What is Al wave?

noun Geology. an earthquake wave that travels around the earth’s surface and is usually the third conspicuous wave to reach a seismograph.

What are secondary seismic waves?

Secondary waves (S-waves) are shear waves that are transverse in nature. Following an earthquake event, S-waves arrive at seismograph stations after the faster-moving P-waves and displace the ground perpendicular to the direction of propagation.

Is Rayleigh wave transverse or longitudinal?

Rayleigh waves are a type of surface wave that travel near the surface of solids. Rayleigh waves include both longitudinal and transverse motions that decrease exponentially in amplitude as distance from the surface increases.

Can you see Rayleigh waves?

At first glance, the Rayleigh waves look like the surface waves in the water (see blog July 15, 2009), but when observing carefully, one will notice that their respective particle motions are different. In a water wave, each particle makes a circular motion in the direction of the propagation of the wave.

What are 2 main types of seismic waves?

Types of Seismic Waves The two main types of waves are body waves and surface waves. Body waves can travel through the Earth’s inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water.

What are seismic L waves?

The L waves travel along the surface of the earth from the point directly above the quake or epicenter. Love (L) waves are shear waves where the shearing (back and forth) motion, is confined to a horizontal plane at the Earth’s surface.

What are primary and secondary waves?

There are two types of seismic waves, primary waves and secondary waves. Primary waves, also known as P waves or pressure waves, are longitudinal compression waves similar to the motion of a slinky (SF Fig. 7.1 A). Secondary waves, or S waves, are slower than P waves.