Three stations would best pinpoint the epicentre by triangulation.
2
The difference in arrival times of P and S waves.
Then you would end up with 2 possible locations for the epicenter. You need a 3rd station to confirm the actual location.
P-waves are the first seismic waves to arrive at a seismograph station.
From Science Explorer Prentice Hall Earth Science: " Geologists use seismic waves to locate an earthquake's epicenter. Seismic waves travel at different speeds. P waves arrive at a seismograph first, with S waves following close behind. To tell how far the epicenter is from the seismograph, scientists measure the difference between the arrival time of the P waves and S waves. The farther away an earthquake is, the greater the time between arrival of the P waves and the S waves." Did this help?
3.5 minutes after the earthquake.
56
The distance of an epicenter from a seismograph station can determined by the time it takes for the seismic waves to reach each station. You need at least 3 seismic stations to record the event to determine this. The time taken for each seismic station to resisted the event will be different as they are different distances from the epicenter. The distance to the epicenter can then be calculated for each station and a epicenter can be determined by a triangulation from all stations that have registered the event.
distance to the epicenter
Three
A seismograph station is a location containing equipment that can measure earthquake activity.
No. One seismograph station will only allow you to calculate the distance to the earthquake's focus. (The epicentre is on the surface above.) To find its exact location you need the recordings from at least 3 seismograph stations.For more information on the SP time method, please see the related question.
The difference in arrival times of P and S waves.
Given the difference in arrival times, you can determine the distance from the epicenter.
The distance between a seismic station and the earthquake epicenter is determined from the S-P interval, which is the time difference between the time of arrival of the first P wave and the first S wave.
The distance between a seismic station and the earthquake epicenter is determined from the S-P interval, which is the time difference between the time of arrival of the first P wave and the first S wave.
A single seismic station can tell you the distance to an earthquakes epicentre but will give you no information on it's location. Seismic vibrations take time to travel to a seismic station and when you have two seismic stations you can narrow down the location of the earthquake's epicentre to two possible locations. Add in a reading from a third station and you can nail down the exact location because if you draw 3 circles one round each station with the size of each circle proportional to the distance of the station form the epicenter, they will intersect at one location on the planet and that location is the epicenter.
The epicenter can be determined by measuring the time difference between the arrival of P and S waves, and then calculating the distance of the epicenter from each of the 3 stations. Once you have estimated the distance for each station you then draw a circle around each one. The place where the circles meet or intersect, is the epicenter.