Question

At a seismic recording station directly on the other side of the planet from a major earthquake, earthquake waves will not be detected from that earthquake. Select one:
a. True b. False

Answer 1

Answer:

True

Explanation:

If a major earthquake occurs on one side of a planet and there is a seismic recording station on the opposite side of the planet, then the seismic P and S waves that generates due to the earthquake wont reach the station on the other side because earth's core is comprised of two parts, where the other core is liquid and the inner core is solid in nature.

As waves propagates through the interior of the earth, it then reaches on the core mantle boundary, where the P waves gets refracted and further flows through the outer liquid, depending upon its intensity. But the S waves are slow and cannot travel in liquid, so it gets absorbed at that core-mantle boundary.

As the waves propagates through the earth's interior, its intensity and speed decreases with the increasing distance as well as depth. This is the reason why the waves does not reach the station on the other side.

Therefore, the above given statement is true.