Question

What distinguishes surface and body seismic waves?
short paragraph

Answer 1

Body waves travel through Earth’s interior and include fast compressional P-waves and slower shear S-waves; they arrive first at a seismograph, can sample deep structure, and S-waves cannot travel through liquids. Surface waves (Rayleigh and Love) propagate along the Earth’s exterior, have larger amplitudes and longer durations, cause most of the shaking and damage in earthquakes, and decay with depth. Surface waves are generally slower than body waves and arise from the interaction of body waves with the free surface.