Earthquakes: Application of Mathematics Essay example -- Geology

Earthquakes An Application of MathematicsThe October 13, 2010 undercoatquake triggered a large buzz across okeh Universitys Norman campus, ball over students walking to class or sitting in the middle of calculus. This order of magnitude 4.3 demesnequake was 10 miles southeast of Norman and was felt as cold north as Stillwater. To many students, the few seconds of agitate was unrecognizable as an earthquake because Oklahomas seismicity is not well known. In reality, Oklahoma experiences multiple earthquakes, al near daily they are usually just not strong enough to be felt. While ground how and why earthquakes top in Oklahoma involves knowledge of faults and rock types, the methods involved in arrangement the epicenter of an earthquake and determining its magnitude require an awareness of the numeric principles involved The focus of an earthquake is the spot within the earth where the earthquake originates, where the fault is first ruptured. The epicenter of an earthqua ke is the location on the earths turn up directly above the focus. When attempting to locate the epicenter of an earthquake, an understanding of seismic waves is crucial. There are two types of seismic waves, body waves and surface waves. Love and Raleigh waves are surface waves that travel across the earths surface and are responsible for a majority of the shaking felt during an earthquake. The two types of body waves, p and s-waves are more reusable in determining information about earthquakes. Body waves travel passim the interior of the earth, propagating from the focus of the earthquake eventually reaching seismograph stations. The arrival propagation of p and s-waves are used to locate the epicenter of the earthquake as the waves are recorded onto ... ...here are debates about which scale is the most precise, although most seismologists claim the moment magnitude scale to be the most systematically accurate. Works Cited http//eqseis.geosc.psu.edu/cammon/HTML/Classes/I ntroQuakes/Notes/waves_and_interior.html http//eqseis.geosc.psu.edu/cammon/HTML/Classes/IntroQuakes/Notes/waves_and_interior.html http//www.tulane.edu/sanelson/geol204/eqcauses.htm http//www.tulane.edu/sanelson/geol204/eqcauses.htm http//earthquake.usgs.gov/ guide/topics/measure.php http//earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/measure.php http//earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/richter.php http//earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/measure.php http//earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/measure.php http//earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/measure.php http//www.okgeosurvey1.gov/media/Oct13-2010-FactSheet_Revision2.pdf