EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Seismic Waves 2.0 -- a program for the visualization of wave propagation

Description
Seismic Waves is a Windows program which illustrates how wave propagate from an earthquake hypocenter to seismic stations throughout the earth. One sees waves propagating out from the epicenter on a three-dimensional view of the earth at the same time one sees waves propagating through a cross-sectional view of the earth. These two wave propagation views are synchronized with actual event waveforms so that as a particular phase arrives at a station, one sees the effect on the seismiogram. The user can select from one of several earthquakes distributed with the program. New events can be easily added. When the program starts, the user can bring up a world map on which stars represent the locations of the events. By clicking on a star the user selects an event. Then the user can start the animation or can select which stations to use and which components for each station. When the animation starts, the user sees a 3-dimensional view of the earth in the lower left hand corner of the screen, a cross-sectional view of the earth in the lower right-hand corner, and a seismograph window at the top. A blast appears on the screen at the hypocenter along with a rumbling sound. The waves then begin to propagate through the earth and the seismograms develop. Each time a major component (P, PP, S, or SS) arrives at a station, a sound is heard.