Locating Epicenter

Lecture-6
1
Locating an Earthquakes Epicenter
Seismic wave behavior
P waves arrive first, then S waves, then L and R
After an earthquake, the difference in arrival times at a seismograph
station can be used to calculate the distance from the seismograph
to the epicenter (D).
2

Time =
Distance
Velocity
P wave has a velocity V
P
; S wave has a velocity V
S
.
V
S
is less than V
P
.
Both originate at the same place --the hypocenter.
They travel the same distance
but the S wave takes more time than the P wave.
Time for the S wave to travel a distance D: T
S
=
D
V
S
;
Time for the P wave to travel a distance D: T
P
=
D
V
P
.
The time difference
T
S
T
P
( )
=
D
V
S

D
V
P
= D
1
V
S

1
V
P
|
\

|
.
|
= D
V
P
V
S
V
P
V
S
|
\

|
.
|
Now solve for the Distance D:
D=
V
P
V
S
V
P
V
S
|
\

|
.
|
T
S
T
P
( )
If average speeds for all these waves is known, use the S-P (S minus P)
time formula: a method to compute the distance (D) between a recording
station and an event.
3
Global Travel Time Curve
4
Source: google images
Seismic Travel-time Curve: If the speeds of the seismic waves are
not known, use Travel-Time curve for that region to get the
distance
1. Measure time
between P and S
wave on
seismogram
2. Use travel-time
graph to get
distance to
epicenter
5
3-circle method: Steps:
1) Read S-P time from 3
seismograms.
2) Compute distance for
each event/recording
station pair (D
1
, D
2
, D
3
)
using S-P time formula.
3) Draw each circle of
radius D
i
on map.
4) Overlapping point is
the event location.

Assumption: Source is
relatively shallow;
epicenter is relatively
close to hypocenter.

north
D
1
D
2
D
3
6
If you gather this information from three or more points, you can figure out
the location of the focus through the process of trilateration.
Basically, you draw an imaginary sphere around each seismograph
location, with the point of measurement as the center and the measured
distance (let's call it X) from that point to the focus as the radius. The
surface of the circle describes all the points that are X miles away from the
seismograph.
The focus, then, must be somewhere along this sphere. If you come up
with two spheres, based on evidence from two different seismographs,
you'll get a two-dimensional circle where they meet. Since the focus must
be along the surface of both spheres, all of the possible focus points are
located on the circle formed by the intersection of these two spheres. A
third sphere will intersect only twice with this circle, giving you two possible
focus points. And because the center of each sphere is on the earth's
surface, one of these possible points will be in the air, leaving only one
logical focus location.
Locating an Earthquakes Epicenter: Deep Source
7
Locating an Earthquakes Epicenter: Deep Source
8

1. Assuming P and S wave traveled through the crust at 6 km/sec and
3 km/sec respectively, estimate the epicentral location (latitude and
longitude) of the hypothetical earthquake whose characteristics are
given below:






Seismograph Arrival Time
Latitude Longitude P- wave S-wave
372230 1215230
06:11:18.93 06:11:26.9
374500 1222000
06:11:14.84 06:11:18.71
375233 1214338
06:11:17.26 06:11:23.53

Example Problem
9
Diameter of earth = 12720 km
360
o
= t 12720
1
o
= 111 km (latitude)
At latitude of 37.5
o
, longitude 1
o
= 111 cos 37.5 = 88 km
Seismograph Difference
in arrival
time of P
and S waves
Distance
from
epicenter
Latitude Latitude Longitude Longitude At (sec) D (km)
372230 37.375 1215230 121.875 7.97 47.8
374500 37.75 1222000 122.333 3.87 23.2
375233 37.876 1214338 121.7272 6.27 37.6

D = [(V
p
V
s
)/(V
p
-V
s
)] At
10
37
o

37.5
o

38
o

121.5
o
122.5
o
122
o

55.5 km
55.5 km
44 km 44 km
Scale 1mm: 1 km

Longitude

11
Scale 1mm: 1 km
Seismograph 1 is at latitude 37.375
o
, 0.375
o
from 37
o
latitude line
Seismograph 1 is at 0.375*111 = 41.625 km from 37
o
latitude line
Seismograph 1 is at longitude 121.875
o
, 0.375
o
from 121.5
o
longitude line
Seismograph 1 is at 0.375*88 = 33 km from 121.5
o
longitude line
19.99
37
o

37.5
o

38
o

121.5
o
122.5
o
122
o

41.25
44 mm
55 mm
41.36
27.5
2 3
1
19.99
37
o

37.5
o

38
o

121.5
o
122.5
o
122
o

29.3
41.625
44 mm
41.36
27.5
2 3
1
33
12
37
37.5
38
121.5
122
122.5
Distance of epicenter from 37.5
o

latitude line = 28 mm
111 mm = 1
o

Latitude of epicenter
= 37.5+28/111 = 37.7522
o

= 37
o
458
Distance of epicenter from 122
o

longitude line = 8.5 mm
88 mm = 1
o

Longitude of epicenter
= 122+8.5/88 =122.0966
o
=
122
o
548
13
Exercise Problems
1. Assuming P and S wave traveled through the crust at 6 km/sec and
3 km/sec respectively, estimate the possible location of the epicenter
P of a shallow earthquake if P forms an equilateral triangle with two
points A (10,10) and B (35, 10) on the ground surface. What is the
difference in the arrival time of P and S waves at A and B?

2. Two Seismographic stations A and B are located 200 km apart on
level ground. An earthquake occurred between these two stations
and the epicenter is located exactly on the line joining these two
stations. The difference in time between P and S wave arrivals was
10 seconds at A and 15 seconds at B. Determine the location of
epicenter from these two stations.





14

Kramer, S.L. (1996) Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Prentice Hall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN2FtHY3LyA (Demo video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsIn3Czggpg
Activity:
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/geophysics/activities/25073.ht
ml (Accessed on 27 March, 2012)


References
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