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.
Recently, Science put out an article detailing new research on the Myanmar earthquake that occurred on March 28, 2025. In one of these studies, Shengji Wei and colleagues analyze data on the event and provide insight on multiple ...
The impact of an earthquake on people and property depends not only on the earthquake's characteristics like magnitude and depth, but also on local soil conditions, which contribute to the so-called "site effect." Mapping ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 30, 2025
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In some parts of Earth's interior, seismic waves travel at different speeds depending on the direction in which they are moving through the layers of rock in Earth's interior. This property is known as seismic anisotropy, ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 21, 2025
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Most Californians are familiar with earthquakes. But researchers say the state faces an overlooked threat: "supershear" earthquakes that move so fast they outrun their own seismic waves.
Earth Sciences
Sep 24, 2025
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One of the worst earthquakes in European history ripped through Portugal in 1755, causing a tsunami, fires and shaking that killed tens of thousands of people and caused widespread destruction. Another less well-documented ...
A set of instruments shut off almost 50 years ago are still producing useful results. It's the seismometers left by the Apollo missions to monitor moonquakes, which, as the name suggests, are earthquakes but on the moon. ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 25, 2025
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The first studies of the 28 March 2025 magnitude 7.8 Myanmar earthquake suggest that the southern portion of its rupture occurred at supershear velocity, reaching speeds of 5 to 6 kilometers per second.
Earth Sciences
Jul 19, 2025
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Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, shifting tectonic plates—these are all signs that our planet is alive. But what is revealed deep inside Earth surprises laymen and scientists alike: Almost 3000 kilometers below Earth's surface, ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 5, 2025
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In September 2023, a bizarre global seismic signal was observed which appeared every 90 seconds over nine days—and was then repeated a month later. Almost a year later, two scientific studies proposed that the cause of these ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 3, 2025
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Seismological research is directly related to the incubation, occurrence, and evolution of earthquakes. Scientists seek to reveal potential earthquake precursors by monitoring the stress state of fault zones, thus providing ...
Earth Sciences
May 30, 2025
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