What is a Seismograph?
A Seismograph works something like a microphone. As the unit shakes, a magnetic suspension on a spring in the seismometer starts to move, causing an electric current to flow in a coil of wire around the magnet. This electric current is then sent to the computer where it is digitized and recorded on the hard disk of the computer. Watch the monitor as you walk around the seismograph. The vibrations caused by your footsteps will will show on the seismograph monitor.
A seismograph is a scientific instrument which records information about the duration, intensity, and direction of a seismic disturbance, classically an earthquake. In addition to registering earthquakes, seismographs can also track large explosions, tidal waves, and other events which cause the ground to shake. These devices are used to gather more information about seismic disturbances, and to monitor the earth for early warning signs of seismic events. Properly, a seismograph should really be known as a “seismometer,” or a “measurer of seismic events,” rather than a “writer of seismic events,” but the two terms are used interchangeably by many people. A true seismograph provides a scrolling printout which records seismic events with the use of a weighted pendulum that vibrates when the Earth does, causing wavering lines to appear on the paper. Modern seismometers can record information in other ways, however, with many operating remotely and beaming information back to a recording s
Earthquakes generate seismic waves which can be detected with a sensitive instrument called a seismograph. Advances in seismograph technology have increased our understanding of both earthquakes and the Earth itself. Perhaps the earliest seismograph was invented in China A.D. 136 by a m an named Choko.
A seismograph is an instrument used for recording the intensity and duration of an earthquake. What is a tsunami? A tsunami is a large ocean wave usually caused by an underwater earthquake or a volcanic explosion. Tsunamis are NOT tidal waves. Tidal waves are caused by the forces of the moon, sun, and planets upon the tides, as well as the wind as it moves over the water. With typical waves, water flows in circles, but with a tsunami, water flows straight. This is why tsunamis cause so much damage! Click Here to see an animation of an earthquake and the resulting tsunami. It’s great for kids, because they get to see how it actually happens! Click Here to get the latest tsunami warning information from the NWS. Click Here for tsunami safety information. Know the Lingo EPICENTER – The point on the earth’s surface directly above the source of the earthquake. SEISMIC WAVES – The energy created by the quake travels in waves from the epicenter, where they are the strongest. The waves shake b
