ACTIVITY SHEET NO.

1
Name: Score:

Year and Section: Date:

Subject: SCIENCE Type of Activity: Activity/Exercises
Activity Title: Find the Epicenter
Learning Target: Locate the epicenter of an earthquake using the triangulation method.

References: Title: Science 10 Learners Materials

Page Numbers: 8 10

Procedure:
1. Study the data showing the difference in the arrival time of P-wave and S-wave on
three seismic recording stations.

Time difference Distance of

Computed
in the arrival epicenter
distance on
Recording Station time of P-wave from the
the map
and S-wave station
(cm)
(seconds) (km)
Batangas 44.8
Puerto Princesa 32
Davao 38.4

2. Compute the distance of the epicenter from each of the stations using this formula:
d= Td x 100 km
8 seconds

Where:
d = distance (km)
Td = time difference in the arrival time of P-wave and S-wave (seconds).

This formula is suited because 8 seconds is the interval between the times of arrival of
the P-wave and S-wave at a distance of 100 km.
3. Choose one of the recording stations and measure the computed distance on the
map scale (the scale of the map in Figure 3 is 1.5 cm: 200 km). Set your compass for
that computed distance.
4. Center your compass on the station you have chosen. Draw a circle.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the stations. You should get three circles that
intersect or nearly intersect at a point. This intersection is the epicenter.
In the previous activity, the hypothetical earthquake happened locally, that is why we
use the formula stated in the procedure. But, if the earthquake took place at a far
greater distance, seismologists use the distance-time graph similar to the figure below
in determining the location of the epicenter.
Exercises:

Q1. Where is the epicenter of this hypothetical earthquake?

Q2. What difficulty will you encounter if you only have data from two recording
stations?
Q3. What is the distance of the epicenter from the seismic station?
Q4. What do you think is the importance of determining the epicenter of an
earthquake?