EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Earthquake Lesson: Seismogram Basics

Description
Students will learn what types of waves earthquakes generate, how these waves travel through Earth, and how seismologists record motion from earthquakes.

Instructions
The Seismogram Basics activity is a worksheet for students to complete. It begins with a brief review of the properties of the various types of seismic waves (previously covered in the accompanying slide set) and then asks the students to examine a set of seismograms recorded for an earthquake in Samoa. The seismometer that recorded these waveforms is located in San Diego, and the students may be surprised that motion can be recorded at such large distances from the earthquake. After observing the example seismogram (showing a record of the 2010 Chile earthquake), the students are asked to find the P, S, and surface waves on the Samoa seismograms and to answer several questions about the properties of such waves.