Epicentral Distance
During an earthquake seismic waves propagate spherically out from the hypocenter. Seismic shadowing occurs on the opposite side of the Earth from the earthquake epicenter because the liquid outer core refracts the longitudinal or compressional (P-waves) while it absorbs the transverse or shear waves (S-waves). Outside of the seismic shadow zone both types of wave can be detected but, due to their different velocities and paths through the Earth, they arrive at different times. By measuring the time difference on any seismograph as well as the distance on a travel-time graph at which the P-wave and S-wave have the same separation, geologists can calculate the distance to the earthquake's epicenter. This distance is called the epicentral distance, commonly measured in ° (degrees) and denoted as Δ (delta) in seismology.
Once epicentral distances have been calculated from at least three seismographic measuring stations, it is a simple matter to find out where the epicenter was located using trilateration.
Epicentral distance is also used in calculating seismic magnitudes developed by Richter and Gutenberg.
Read more about this topic: Epicenter
Famous quotes containing the word distance:
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—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)