How are earthquake waves produced? List 3 types of waves?
Some of you are right and some of you are wrong… The poster who said “P waves, S waves and Seismic waves — I just learned it in class” is a dingbat. P waves and S waves ARE seismic waves. The third type is the L wave, which was posted by others. P waves come first, have the lowest amplitude and display a compressional motion, S waves come second, have a higher amplitude and display a side to side transverse motion, and L waves have the highest amplitude and should be called “Look out!” waves (Though they are Love waves) because they take you on the thrill ride portion of your quake experience.
Earthquakes and volcanoes are evidence for plate tectonics. Earthquakes are caused when energy is released as the lithosphere (crust and upper mantle) of the Earth moves. Energy is emitted in the form of waves. There are different types of waves, some move faster, slower, sideways, or up and down. A seismograph records these waves on a seismogram. When an earthquake is recorded it is called an earthquake “event.” There are several types of seismic waves. The two that you need to know are P-waves and S-waves . The information below is very important and you must know it. P-waves – also called primary or compressional waves. Four Important things to remember about P-waves: 1. They travel the fastest. 2. They travel in the same direction as the particles they vibrate (see diagram 1). 3. They travel through solids, liquids and gases. 4. They travel faster through denser materials (density increases with depth on the earth). S-waves- also called secondary or shear waves. Four important thin
