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seismic waves

Cultural  
  1. In geology, shock waves in solid rock generated by earthquakes or underground explosions. (See seismology.)


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Seismic waves travel through the Earth and can be detected far from their source.

Most of our knowledge of the Earth's interior comes from studying seismic waves.

The measurement of seismic waves is also important in detecting underground nuclear tests.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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The clash generates strong mechanical ground vibrations, or seismic waves, that propagate thousands of kilometres from the origin.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

"Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred."

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Chen has done research on seismic waves to identify underground nuclear testing by North Korea, according to open-source research he has produced.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

“The passage of seismic waves from the first earthquake could have rattled nearby faults already prone to a rupture.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

When the first seismic waves reached the power plant at Fukushima Daiichi, fail-safe systems shut down the reactors.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

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