Seismic Wave Practice

A seismic recording station located 4000 kilometers from the epicenter of an earthquake received the first P-wave at 7:10:00 p.m. (hh:mm:ss). Other information that could be determined from this recording was that the earthquake occurred at approximately...

(Hint: When the Earthquake "OCCURED" is the same as saying "ORIGIN TIME." Use the Epicenter Distance given to find the P wave Travel Time. Origin time formula: P wave arrival time - P wave travel time)

• 7:03:00 p.m., and the S-wave arrived at this station at 7:12:40 p.m.

• 7:03:00 p.m., and the S-wave arrived at this station at 7:15:40 p.m.

• 7:17:00 p.m., and the S-wave arrived at this station at 7:12:40 p.m.

• 7:17:00 p.m., and the S-wave arrived at this station at 7:15:40 p.m.

The first P-wave of an earthquake travels 5600 kilometers from the epicenter and arrives at a seismic station at 10:05 a.m.

At what time did this earthquake occur?

(Hint: You must find when the Earthquake "occurs" which is its Origin Time. Look back at how to solve for Origin Time.

You need another piece of information that was not provided to you directly in this question.

You CAN find this information on the reference table based on the information that was provided about the distance in this question.)

• 9:49 a.m.

• 9:56 a.m.

• 10:14 a.m.

• 10:16 a.m.

An earthquake P-wave arrived at a seismograph station at 01 hour 21 minutes 40 seconds. The distance from the station to the epicenter is 3,000 kilometers. The earthquake's origin time was...

(Hint: How do we calculate Origin Time? You need another piece of information to do this that was not provided directly in this question, but can be found if you use the distance on the reference table.)

• 01 h 11 min 40 sec

• 01 h 16 min 00 sec

• 01 h 20 min 20 sec

• 01 h 27 min 20 sec

A seismograph station 3 x 10^3 kilometers from an epicenter received P-waves at 3:33:00 in the afternoon. What was the origin time of the earthquake?

(Hint: What does 3 x 10^3 really represent as a distance? Use this distance to determine the P wave Travel time, and then calculate the Origin Time.)

• 3:03:00 p.m.

• 3:27:20 p.m.

• 3:28:40 p.m.

• 3:38:40 p.m.

The first P-wave of an earthquake took 11 minutes to travel to a seismic station from the epicenter of the earthquake. What is the seismic station's distance to the epicenter of the earthquake and how long did it take for the first S-wave to travel that distance?

• Distance to epicenter: 3350 km S-wave travel time: 4 min 50 sec

• Distance to epicenter: 3350 km S-wave travel time: 6 min 10 sec

• Distance to epicenter: 7600 km S-wave travel time: 5 min

• Distance to epicenter: 7600 km S-wave travel time: 20 min

Diagram 1 represents a cross section of Earth and its interior layers. The asterisk (*) shows the location of an earthquake epicenter. Letters A through D are seismic stations on Earth's surface. Diagram 2 shows four seismograms labeled I, II, III, and IV, which were recorded at seismic stations A, B, C, and D during the same time interval. Which list correctly matches the seismograms with the seismic stations where they were recorded?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

The arrival time of the first earthquake P-wave at a seismograph station was 10:11:20 (hours:minutes:seconds). If the epicenter of the earthquake is 8000 km away, what was the approximate arrival time of the first S-wave from this earthquake?

• 10:02:00

• 10:09:20

• 10:20:40

• 10:32:00

Which statement correctly compares seismic P-waves with seismic S-waves?

• P-waves travel faster than S-waves and pass through Earth's liquid zones.

• P-waves travel faster than S-waves and do not pass through Earth's liquid zones.

• P-waves travel slower than S-waves and pass through Earth's liquid zones.

• P-waves travel slower than S-waves and do not pass through Earth's liquid zones.

The photograph shows the coastal area of Crescent City, California.

The distance from the epicenter of the March 1964 earthquake to Crescent City is 2600 kilometers. How long did it take the first P-wave to reach Crescent City?

• 3 minutes 20 seconds

• 4 minutes 10 seconds

• 5 minutes 0 seconds

• 9 minutes 10 seconds

Once a tsunami warning is issued, which action should residents of Crescent City take to prevent loss of life?

• evacuate to higher ground

• board up windows

• go into their basements

• get under a sturdy desk or table

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2