Why is three the minimum number of stations necessary to locate an epicenter?

Answer 1

Oh, dude, so like, when it comes to locating an epicenter, you need at least three stations because, like, each station gives you a radius of possible locations. And when you have three stations, those circles intersect at two points, which narrows down the possible epicenter locations. It's like triangulation, but with earthquakes instead of maps.

Answer 2

Well, honey, three is the magic number because with just two stations, you can only determine the distance to the epicenter, not the exact location. You need that third station to narrow it down and triangulate the epicenter like a boss. So, three's company when it comes to pinpointing where all the earthquake action is happening.

Answer 3

Three seismic stations are needed to find the epicenter of an earthquake because all three radial circles made by the stations will only meet at one point. (example: if you only had to circles they would meet at two different points)
At least 3

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

Three stations are necessary to locate an epicenter because each station provides a known distance from the epicenter, represented by a radius on a map. Where the three circles intersect is the location of the epicenter. With only two stations, there would be two possible points for the epicenter.

Answer 6

Dk