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Seismologists determine an earthquake's epicenter by using the difference in arrival times of S and P waves recorded by three different seismographs. They draw circles around each station at the reported distance, and where the circles intersect is the epicenter. This document provides the distances three stations recorded for an earthquake and instructs the reader to use those distances and a scale on a map to locate and label the epicenter.

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603 views2 pages

Assessment Activity

Seismologists determine an earthquake's epicenter by using the difference in arrival times of S and P waves recorded by three different seismographs. They draw circles around each station at the reported distance, and where the circles intersect is the epicenter. This document provides the distances three stations recorded for an earthquake and instructs the reader to use those distances and a scale on a map to locate and label the epicenter.

Uploaded by

ndramoneda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Assessment Activity

Locating an earthquake epicenter

You learned that seismologists determine the distance to the earthquake epicenter using the difference
between S and P wave arrival times. To locate the epicenter of the earthquake, seismologists use the
distance data from 3 different seismographs, and then draw circles that distance away from the
station. Where they intersect, that’s the epicenter!! (or close to it)

 An earthquake was recorded at Stations A, B, and C shown on the map below.


Station A reported that the epicenter of the quake was 1500 km from the station.
Station B reported a distance of 3500 km.
Station C reported a distance of 5000 km.

Using a ruler, compass, and the scale below of ¼ inch = 500 km,locate and label the epicenter of the
earthquake on this map.

¼ inch = 500 km
 An earthquake was recorded at Stations A, B, and C shown on the map below.
Station A reported that the epicenter of the quake was 2500 km from the station.
Station B reported a distance of 5000 km.
Station C reported a distance of 6750 km.

Using a ruler, compass, and the scale below of ¼ inch = 500 km,locate and label the epicenter of the
earthquake on this map.

¼ inch = 500 km

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