What Are The Types Of Seismic Waves? | Seismology
TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES – In this topic we will now talk about the meaning and the different types of seismic waves in the field of seismology.
![TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES](http://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/TYPES-OF-SEISMIC-WAVES.jpg)
But first, let us know the meaning of seismology and seismic waves.
Definition
- Seismology
- The study of earthquakes and seismic waves that moves through and around the world. Scientists who study this field are called seismologists
- Seismic waves
- The sudden breaking of racks within the world or an explosion cause these waves of energy .
Types
Here are the following types according to the website of Michigan Technological University:
A. Body Waves – these arrive before the surface waves are discharged by an earthquake and they travel through the world’s interior
Types of Body Waves
1. P Waves or Primary Waves – the fastest type and the first to arrive at a seismic station. They move through solid rock and fluids; and push and pull the rock they move through
![](http://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/P-wave_medium.jpg)
2. S Waves or Secondary Wave – refers to the second wave we feel in an earth =quake and is slower than a P Wave. It can only move through a solid rock.
![](http://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/S-wave_medium.jpg)
B. Surface Waves – These have lower frequency than body waves and are distingished on a seismogram (device for detecting seismic waves).
Types of Surface Waves
1. Love Waves – named after A. E. H. Love, who made the mathematical model for this wave way back in 1911. It is the fastest surface wave and moves from side-to-side.
![TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES](http://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Love_medium.jpg)
2. Rayleigh Wave – named after Lord Rayleigh or John William Strutt who discovered this wave in 1885, It is a wave that rolls along the ground like a wave that rolls across a lake or an ocean, thus, moving the ground up and down.
![TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES](http://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rayleigh_medium.jpg)
READ ALSO – What Is Fault In Science? Meaning And Types Of Fault