here are two types of waves associated with an earthquake: compression and shear

Question

here are two types of waves associated with an earthquake: compression and shear. The compression, or longitudinal, waves displace material behind the earthquake’s path. Longitudinal waves travel at great speeds and are often called “primary waves” or simply “P” waves. Shear, or transverse, waves displace material at right angles to its path. Transverse waves do not travel as rapidly through the Earth’s crust and mantle as do longitudinal waves, and they are called “secondary” or “S” waves. If a seismologist records the energy of P waves as 4.6 times 10 Superscript 12 joules and the energy of S waves as 6.6 times 10 Superscript 8 joules, what is the total energy? What would the combined effect be on the Richter scale? Round both answers to one decimal place.

Explanation / Answer

When an earthquake occurs it involves not only body waves such as p wave and s wave but also another waves such as love , Rayleigh, coda waves. Thus the total energy released by an earthquake is the combination of all these waves. Also by calculating the moment magnitude of the earthquake one can easily calculate the total energy.

By Richter scale :

log10E = 4.4 + 1.5M

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