A seismic wave is an elastic disturbance that propagates through the Earth or along its surface as a result of sudden stress changes, typically from fault rupture, volcanic activity, or anthropogenic sources such as explosions. Governed by the equations of elastodynamics, seismic waves are categorized into body waves (P and S waves) and surface waves (Rayleigh and Love waves), each with distinct particle motion, dispersion, and attenuation characteristics. Their propagation properties—velocity, amplitude, frequency content, and scattering—are strongly controlled by the elastic moduli, density, anisotropy, and heterogeneity of the medium, making seismic waves a primary observational phenomenon in seismology and Earth structure studies.
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