Do P or S waves of an earthquake cause more damage?
454597
None of them .L waves causes more damage of all.\nPrimary (P)waves : Pressure waves caused when rock is pushed or pulled forward or backward. Primary waves, the fastest wave sent out by an earthquake, travel down into the earth rather than along the surface.(Remember: P waves - primary,p ressure, push-and-pull\nSecondary (S) waves : Shear waves caused when rock is shaken or whipped from side-to-side, like the wavy motion of a slithery snake. Secondary waves, the second-fastest wave sent out by an earthquake, travel down into the earth rather than along the surface. (Remember: S waves - second, shear, side-to-side)\nSurface (L) waves : Up-and-down (rolling) or side-to-side motion of the earth surface. Surface waves, the slowest earthquake waves, travel along the surface of the earth rather than down into the earth. Although they are the slowest of all earthquake waves, L waves usually cause more damage to society than P or S waves. L waves were named after a geologist who studied them. ( Remember: L waves are always the last to arrive.
711008
I think it depends on what's near it to be destroyed, and whether it starts one or more tsunamis and how big they are & where they hit. A bigger quake certainly has greater potential for destruction.
128624
The transmission of the various modes of vibration of an earthquake to a building can depend on whether the building is constructed on solid rock or on sand or silt.  Sometimes the excavation for the building and refill can also alter the ground response.  Sand and silt can actually amplify the effects on a building and earthquakes can actually liquify soft ground under certain cirstances especially when very moist.  You may not be able to build a buffer into the ground to protect the building.  Instead it may be necessary to obtain seismologist's estimates of the worst expected earthquake g-loads for the area and a geologist's estimates on how the selected site will react.  With that information a building can be designed to withstand the site response to an earthquake with room to spare (factor of safety).  Good luck.
274586
There are areas that are more prone to Tsunamis than other areas.  Besides the seismic activity factor, the shape of the ocean floor has a lot to do with whether a tsunami hits a coastal area and how bad the tsunami is.  For example, in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, a tsunami wave went south and struck the California coast.  Damage ranged from minor (boats knocked against the dock) to devestating as in Crescent City where 30 city blocks were covered and 11 people died.  The seabed off of Crescent City forms a shallow slope the forces the pressure of the tsunami up into the classic "tidal wave" configuration associated with tsunamis.
281760
This is probably because most large earthquakes occur very deep in the Earth (along subducted plate contacts) so they register with low amplitudes at the surface. But if a large earthquake happens near the surface, it will have a larger amplitude and likely a long duration compared to smaller earthquakes. The longer duration can be due to more energy which generates larger sizes and larger quantities of waves that can resonate, interfere with one another and reflect off of geologic surfaces to prolong the quake..
837968
Well, seismologists have preached the dangers of lateral/shear waves, whch cause the most damage.  This has altered building practices with things like lateral joints.  They also help identify the areas that are most likely to have the strongest shaking (based on soil type and proximity to faults), which helps code get written.
1044728
The foci of earthquakes at transform boundaries tend to be at shallow depths.\n\nSee source.
758992
Dear friend, There are different people using different methods to predict the occurrence of earthquakes. I know most of the methods and its concept. I am working in development of early warning system for earth quake and Tsunami. I am using the data’s already found by our seismologist. So for we are unable to find the correct method for prediction of earthquakes. Because it depends upon so many factors. That is why the prediction announced by professor My Venkatanathan of Madras University failed. Some time the warning becomes real. But most of the times the prediction failed. For that those who are working in the field of prediction and warning system should share their knowledge with each other. Even though my waning proved real 2 times because I issued the warning 2 hours before tsunami struck our Indian coast to local T.V.Stations on 26th Dec 2004 and I issued the denial of Tsunami attack on 28th March 2005 .For both the incidents I have fool proof records. But nobody came forward to find the fact of my claims. Now after about 22 months our Government run T.V . Station accepted my claims.Please visit my slide show at URL:-\nhttp://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/quake
883081
“Earthquake prediction” in the popular language is consonant with short-term prediction.  Scientists are sure about where earthquakes will occur, and a general time span.  For example, I live in San Francisco, and we know that sometime in the next 30 years, there's going to be a big one.\n\nAt the present time, optimism is rather low about the prospects for short-term prediction, because of its local nature: one would have to be fortunate to have instruments within short range of the future focus of a strong earthquake.\n\nResearch into anomalies in the ratio of P- to S-wave velocities, magnetic fields, resistivity, tilt, emission of noble gases, and so on are no longer at the leading edge of contemporary interest.
13603
Yes, there are. I have experienced several including the Nisqually Earthquake on 2/28/2001 that registered 6.8 and caused a significant amount of damage. \n\nThe site I added below gives more information about the major faults that are located under the water near the city.
422794
Whan an earthquake occurs, it sends shock waves through the earth. One travels through the earth's surface by compressing back and forth the rocks, the other by moving them up and down. These both travel at different but known speeds, so when an earthquake registers at a recording site it registers as two blips, a P wave blip first and an S wave blip later. The distance between these blips tells the seismologists how far away the earthquake was, the bigger the gap, the further the distance. To find the location of the earthquake you then need to use different recording sites data for how far away it was and triangulate the data to find an actual location of the epicentre. The waves also travel through the earth in different ways in addition to the p and the s waves, by going throught the surface or more directly through the earths core. Again the data for these echo times differences is known and allows a distance to the epicentre to be calculated.
371029
Seismic Waves are the different waves that travel through the earth surface from an earthquake.  There are 2 major waves or movements observed on the surface.\n1.  P waves (compression waves) move the surface form side to side and create cavities in the ground.\n2.  S waves (shear waves) move the surface up & down creating ridges and cliffs in the surface.\n\nBS Geology Degree
724384
There are way too many variables to answer this question appropriately.  i.e. the quake magnitude, the depth of the epicenter, the soil underlying the structure, the rock underlying the structure, the components of the structure - material types (3000 psi concrete vs. 8000 psi concrete, the location and amount of re-bar, the type of footing - spread footings vs piles), if any sort of seismic fitting has been to the structure - addition of dampeners or springs, the list goes on....
127553
Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of the Earth's tectonic plates. We don't get earthquakes like the West coast here on the east coast because there simply isn't as much shifting.
850878
Go to this web site and read what is there:\n\nhttp://schools.matter.org.uk/Content/Seismology/shadow_zone.html\n\nBasically, there are two kinds of seismic waves from an earthquake or an underground nuclear explosion. These are called P waves and S waves. The S waves cannot travel through the liquid rock surrounding the earth's solid core, so this core creates a "shadow" for those waves. A different kind of "shadow" is created for P waves as they refract at the liquid/solid interface.\n\nHope this helps. Fascinating stuff seismography!
370879
Surface waves are the most destructive because they travel along the earth's surface and travel more slowly because they have a lower frequency.  There are two types of surface waves Rayleigh waves and Love waves.
203356
I've felt 4 earthquakes in my lifetime but all were less than intensity 4.  Three of those occasions, I was living in a high-rise and I really thought that I just felt dizzy or had vertigo.  It's really not too big a deal here in the Philippines because we get all kinds of natural phenomenon all the time, earthquakes included.  The other one though was pretty strong and strangely enough, my first thought was to put on nice undies because i didn't want the rescuers to find me through the rubble with granny panties. Ha ha ha.  Good thing it didn't get stronger. (the earthquake, I mean)