Seismology Lab

Seismology Simulation – Seismic Waves & Seismograph

Seismology is the scientific study of seismic waves—how they propagate through Earth's interior and what their travel-time patterns reveal about subsurface structure. While the earthquake simulation focuses on fault rupture and ground shaking at the surface, this simulation puts you in the role of the analyst: reading waveforms on virtual seismograms, measuring P-S arrival time differences to locate epicenters, and using shadow zones to infer core geometry. Understanding wave refraction and reflection turns raw seismograph records into a picture of Earth's hidden layers.

What you can do in this simulation

• Read P-wave and S-wave arrivals on three simulated seismograph stations and apply the S-P time method to triangulate the epicenter
• Observe how seismic waves refract at velocity boundaries between crust, mantle, and core
• Identify the P-wave shadow zone and S-wave shadow zone to deduce the size and state of Earth's outer core
• Compare body wave (P and S) travel-time curves with surface wave (Love and Rayleigh) dispersion curves
• Adjust focal mechanism controls and observe how first-motion polarities change on a beach-ball diagram

Concepts covered

P-waves and S-waves · seismograph · epicenter location · shadow zone · travel-time curves · focal mechanism

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