body wave

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body wave

A seismic wave that travels through the earth rather than across its surface. Body waves usually have smaller amplitudes and shorter wavelengths than surface waves and travel at higher speeds.

bod′y wave`

a hair permanent with little or no curl.

[1960–65]

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References in periodicals archive ?

Hypocentral locations of the aftershocks were determined with the help of computer code HYPO71PC (Lee, 1990) using body wave data recorded by local seismic network.

Barkhan (Balochistan) earthquakes of June 26 and July 12, 1999: Source parameters from teleseismic body waves

Often, seismologists can differentiate between earthquakes and explosions by comparing the magnitude of one type of body wave (m(b)) to the magnitude of one type of surface wave (M(s)).

Policing the peace: verifying a comprehensive test ban

The thrust of the panel's report was that the most recent analysis of surface wave data indicates that the body wave bias value presently used is too low, fortifying the view that the official estimates of Soviet yields are too high.