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Feb 20, 2024

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Earthquake Lab 1 Earthquake Lab Brandy L Mingus Upper Iowa University

Earthquake Lab 2 The Earthquake Lab delves into the fundamental concepts and mechanisms underlying seismic activity. Earthquakes arise from the sudden release of energy along faults in the Earth's crust, giving rise to seismic waves that propagate through the Earth's materials. The point of origin of this seismic energy, known as the hypocenter, marks the initial region of fault formation or rupture. Directly above the hypocenter lies the epicenter, the point on the Earth's surface impacted by the seismic event. Seismic waves, categorized into body and surface waves, play a crucial role in understanding earthquake dynamics. Body waves include compressional (P- waves) and shear (S-waves), while surface waves encompass Love and Rayleigh waves. This lab focuses specifically on P and S waves, exploring their characteristics and implications. In continental regions, P-waves travel faster than S-waves, and their arrival times at seismic stations provide valuable information. The amplitude of the seismogram curve, representing the energy released during an earthquake, is a key parameter. The Richter magnitude scale, based on P and S wave amplitude is measured at a distance of 100 kilometers from the epicenter, quantifies earthquake magnitudes. The objectives of this lab include calculating earthquake epicenter distances and determining the amplitudes of seismic events using provided seismographs. The Earthquake Lab involves a systematic set of procedures and data collection aimed at understanding seismic events through hands-on measurements and calculations. The overview of the lab procedures and data collection is outlined as follows: ### Lab Procedures: 1. Preparation:

Earthquake Lab 3 - Download and print the provided PDF containing images of 3 seismographs recorded during an earthquake event. - Gather necessary materials: ruler, pencil, and lab sheets. 2. Data Table Setup: - Recreate a data table in the lab report with columns for Seismic Station, Millimeters, Seconds, Kilometers, Amplitude, and Richter Magnitude. 3. S-P Separation Measurement: - Using a ruler, measure the distance from the beginning of the P-wave to the beginning of the S-wave on each seismograph. - Record these measurements in millimeters in the data table. - If the ruler doesn't have millimeters, measure S-P separation in inches and convert to millimeters (1 mm = 25.4 inches). 4. Conversion to Seconds: - Convert each S-P separation in millimeters to seconds (1 mm = 1 second) and record in the data table. 5. Epicenter Distance Calculation: - Calculate the epicentral distance from each seismic station using the approximation that 1 second of difference between P and S arrival times corresponds to an 8-kilometer distance. - Record these calculated distances in the data table. 6. Amplitude Measurement: - Measure the amplitude of each seismograph by determining the distance from the center horizontal line to the top of the highest point on the wave.

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Earthquake Lab 4 - Record these measurements in millimeters in the data table. 7. Richter Magnitude Determination: - Utilize the Richter Scale plot to determine the magnitude for each earthquake. - Find the S-P separation in seconds on the leftmost scale and draw a line across to the amplitude in millimeters on the rightmost scale. - The point where this line crosses the scale indicates the magnitude of the quake. 8. Data Analysis: - Analyze the collected data to draw conclusions about earthquake epicenter distances, amplitudes, and Richter magnitudes. Seismic Station Millimeters Seconds Kilometers Amplitude Richter Magnitude PLM 14 14 112 19mm 4.1 GLA 30 30 240 12mm 5.0 BAR 28 28 224 15mm 4.8 Conclusion I have gained a basic understanding of the Richter scale and its application in determining the magnitude of an earthquake. Furthermore, you will explore the process of measuring the time interval between an S-wave and a P-wave through the use of a seismograph. I am eager to delve deeper into the specifics of the equipment utilized to obtain precise readings both preceding and following an earthquake.

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