The first p-wave of an earthquake travels 5600 kilometers from the epicenter and arrives at a seismic station at 10:05 a. m. at what time did the earthquake occur

They were recorded at 10.05 am, it means the earthquake occurred 13 minutes before that: so, at 9.52 am.

The p-waves travel with uniform motion (constant velocity), the time (t) taken to travel from the epicenter to the point is given by:

t = d / v

where d is the distance covered and v is the speed of the p wave.

The speed of p wave normally is 7 km/s, hence:

t = 5600 / 7 = 800 s = 13.3 minutes

Since they were recorded at 10.05 am, it means the earthquake occurred 13 minutes before that: so, at 9.52 am.

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9.52 am

Explanation:

The p-waves travel with uniform motion (constant velocity), so we can calculate the time they take to travel from the epicenter to the point where they are recorded using

where

d is the distance covered

v is the speed of the p-waves

On average, the speed of p-waves is

v = 7 km/s

Here they have to cover a distance of

d = 5600 km

So, the time they take is:

Converting into minutes,

Since they were recorded at 10.05 am, it means the earthquake occurred 13 minutes before that: so, at 9.52 am.