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S wave

American  

noun

Geology.
  1. a transverse earthquake wave that travels through the interior of the earth and is usually the second conspicuous wave to reach a seismograph.


S wave Scientific  

Example Sentences

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Of the two, it’s most likely that an S wave brings damaging shaking.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 27, 2022

In an earthquake, P waves — or compressional waves — arrive first but usually don’t cause much damage; they’re followed by the S wave, or shear wave.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 27, 2022

Instead, it's the shear wave, aka S wave, that people usually feel during an earthquake.

From Salon Oct. 19, 2019

S waves, which cannot move through liquids, are blocked by the Earth’s liquid outer core, creating an S wave shadow zone on the side of the planet opposite to the earthquake focus.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2017

The slowest of these, the "S" wave, has never been traced to its source before and researchers say it opens up a new way to study the Earth's hidden depths.

From BBC Aug. 26, 2016

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