Seismology

Seismology

The study of earthquake, seismic sources, and wave propagation through the Earth.

Industry: Earth science

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Seismology

S-wave

Earth science; Seismology

A seismic body wave which propagates by a shearing motion; particle vibrate in a direction perpendicular to that of the propagation of the wave. Slower than the P-wave, the S-wave always arrives ...

An adjective to refer to earthquakes, and any properties thereof, that occur more than 100 km from a particular site. In this age of modern seismic data-recording networks, this translates to more ...

fault line

Earth science; Seismology

A commonly-used term that is synonymous with the surface trace of a fault. It should never be used to describe the fault itself; faults are planar, not linear, features.

fault strand

Earth science; Seismology

An individual fault of a set of closely-spaced parallel or subparallel faults of a fault system.

horizontal fault

Earth science; Seismology

A fault with no dip. Still theoretical, this sort of fault should only exist within a region of strong compression or extension where the tectonic forces required for such movement could be present.

Holocene

Earth science; Seismology

The most recent geologic era; from about 10,000 years ago to the present. The Holocene is the latest epoch of the Quaternary period.

hypocenter

Earth science; Seismology

Also known as the focus, the hypocenter is the point of origin of an earthquake. It can be expressed with no fewer than three measurements: latitude, longitude, and depth.