How are different types of waves involved in earthquakes?
1) P-waves are sometimes called pressure waves, and sometimes they are called longitudinal waves. P-waves are transmitted through the Earth’s interior with a backwards and forwards motion along the line of travel, by alternating compression and dilatation. A jack hammer creates P-waves. They are capable of passing through any type of material they encounter, including the liquid of the Earth’s outer core, although they will be bent and deflected when they pass across the boundaries separating layers of different densities. 2)S-waves are also called transverse waves. They travel with a side-to-side or up and down motion, or a combination of the two, in which the particles in the medium through which the wave is passing move at right angles to the direction in which the wave is travelling. A good analogy is the wave motion that occurs when you shake a rope or a curtain cord which is fixed at one end. S-waves will not travel through liquid, so they are stopped when they reach the Earth’s
