1. This abbreviated ppt file of wave animations is modified from:
Making Waves: Classroom Demos and Activities for Teaching About Seismic Waves 1
Larry Braile, Purdue University
web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile
Sheryl Braile, Happy Hollow School
West Lafayette, IN
NSTA Conference, March 2006
Anaheim, CA
Last modified March 13, 2006
1 This PowerPoint file:     
Partial funding for this development provided by the National Science Foundation.
 Copyright L. Braile. Permission granted for reproduction for non-commercial uses.

2. Wave animations
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University
Seismic Wave animations (Developed by L. Braile)

3. Dan Russell animations – The people wave
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University

4. Dan Russell animations – A wave pulse
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University

5. Dan Russell animations – Transverse wave
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University

6. Dan Russell animations – Rayleigh wave
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University

7. Compressional Wave (P-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating
compression and dilation. Particle motion is parallel to the
direction of propagation (longitudinal). Material returns to its
original shape after wave passes.

8. Shear Wave (S-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse motion. Particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of propagation (transverse). Transverse particle motion shown here is vertical but can be in any direction. However, Earth’s layers tend to cause mostly vertical (SV; in the vertical plane) or horizontal (SH) shear motions. Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

9. Rayleigh Wave (R-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of elliptical motions (generally retrograde elliptical) in the vertical plane and parallel to the direction of propagation. Amplitude decreases with depth. Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

10. Love Wave (L-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse motions. Particle motion is horizontal and perpendicular to the direction of propagation (transverse). To aid in seeing that the particle motion is purely horizontal, focus on the Y axis (red line) as the wave propagates through it. Amplitude decreases with depth. Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

11. Schematic diagram illustrating students performing wave simulations
Schematic diagram illustrating students performing wave simulations. Student holds a poster board or cardboard circle in front of his or her body and walks forward (like the seismic waves propagating in the Earth). While walking, the student moves their circle forward and backward (“push and pull”, for the P wave), or up and down (transverse motion for the shear wave), or in a retrograde ellipse (for the Rayleigh wave), or side to side horizontally (for the Love wave), as shown above.

12. You can download the animations separately to run more efficiently ( A complete PowerPoint presentation on the Seismic wave animations is also available at:

13. 1. What seismic wave type is shown here?

14. 2. What seismic wave type is shown here?

15. 3. What seismic wave type is shown here?

16. 4. What seismic wave type is shown here?

17. For further information, see the web page: www. eas. purdue
For further information, see the web page: