What is seismic waves ?

The tremors produce waves on the surface of the earth. These are called seismic waves. The waves are recorded by an instrument called the
seismograph . The instrument is simply a vibrating rod, or a pendulum, which starts vibrating when tremors occur. A pen is attached to
the vibrating system. The pen records the seismic waves on a paper which moves under it. By studying these waves, scientists can construct a complete map of the earthquake, . They can also estimate its power to cause destruction Richter scale is not linear. This means that an earthquake of magnitude 6 does not have one and half times the destructive energy of an earthquake of magnitude 4. In fact, an increase of 2 in magnitude means 1000 times more destructive energy. Therefore, an earthquake of magnitude 6 has thousand times more destructive energy than an earthquake of magnitude 4.

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