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A sensor is a converter that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an (today

mostly electronic) instrument. VIBRATING SENSORS: A wide range of functions are accomplished by microelectronics, and one important measurement made by them is vibration. Vibration sensors measure what is known as oscillatory motion, a movement that continuously goes back and forth. TYPES OF VIBRATING SENSORS Piezoelectric sensor: A piezoelectric sensor is a device that uses the piezoelectric effect, to measure changes in pressure, acceleration, strain or force by converting them to an electrical charge
Piezoresistive sensors: Piezoresistive sensors are resistors made from a piezoresistive material and are usually used for measurement of mechanical stress. They are the simplest form of piezoresistive devices.

Seismic sensors: Seismometers are instruments that measure motions of the ground, including those of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other seismic sources Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the Earth's layers, and are a result of an earthquake, explosion, or a volcano that imparts low-frequency acoustic energy Seismic wave fields are recorded by seismometer, hydrophone (in water), or accelerometer. Velocity tends to increase with depth, and ranges from approximately 2 to 8 km/s in the Earth's crust up to 13 km/s in the deep mantle

Body waves[edit]
There are two types of body wave, P-waves and S-waves (both body waves). Pressure waves or Primary waves (P-waves), are longitudinal waves that involve compression and rarefaction(expansion) in the direction that the wave is traveling. P-waves are the fastest waves in solids and are therefore the first waves to appear on a seismogram. S-waves, also called shear or secondary waves, are transverse waves that involve motion perpendicular to the direction of propagation. S-waves appear

later than P-waves on a seismogram. Fluids cannot support this perpendicular motion, [3] or shear, so S-waves only travel in solids. P-waves travel in both solids and fluids.

Surface waves[edit]
The two main kinds of surface wave are the Rayleigh wave,which has some compressional motion, and the Love wave, which does not. Such waves can be theoretically explained in terms of interacting P- and/or S-waves. Surface waves travel more slowly than P-waves and S-waves, but because they are guided by the surface of the Earth (and their energy is thus trapped near the Earth's surface) they can be much larger in amplitude than body waves, and can be the largest signals seen in earthquake seismograms. They are particularly strongly excited when their source is close to the [3] surface of the Earth, as in a shallow earthquake or explosion.

Normal modes[edit]
The above waves are traveling waves. Large earthquakes can also make the Earth "ring" like a bell. This ringing is a mixture of normal modes with discrete frequencies and periods of an hour or shorter. Motion caused by a large earthquake can be observed for [3] up to a month after the event. The first observations of normal modes were made in the 1960s as the advent of higher fidelity instruments coincided with two of the largest earthquakes of the 20th century - the 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake and the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake. Since then, the normal modes of the Earth have given us some of the strongest constraints on the deep structure of the Earth. See also free oscillations of the Earth.

Seismometers are sensors that sense and record the motion of the Earth arising from elastic waves. Seismometers may be deployed at Earth's surface, in shallow vaults, in boreholes, or underwater. A complete instrument package that records seismic signals is called aseismograph. Networks of seismographs continuously record ground motions around the world to facilitate the monitoring and analysis of global earthquakes and other seismic sources. Rapid location of earthquakes makes tsunami warnings possible because seismic waves travel considerably faster than tsunami waves. Seismometers also record signals from non-earthquake sources ranging from explosions (nuclear and chemical), to local noise from wind or anthropogenic activities, to incessant signals generated at the ocean floor and coasts induced by ocean
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waves

(the

global microseism), to cryospheric events associated with large icebergs and glaciers. Above-ocean meteor strikes with energies as high as 4.2 10 J (equivalent to that

released by an explosion of ten kilotons of TNT) have been recorded by seismographs, as have a number of industrial accidents and terrorist bombs and events (a field of study referred to asforensic seismology). A major long-term motivation for the global seismographic monitoring has been for the detection and study ofnuclear testing.

project

for measuring and delivering post-earthquake information is the Quake-Catcher

Network (QCN) developed and run by Stanford University and the University of California, Riverside, which uses inexpensive accelerometers attached to personal computers and laptops to measure and detect earthquakes. The work done by iShake complements this project well, as it takes advantage of a resource not considered by Quake Catchers, and provides directional compass data that personal computers cannot measure, allowing the measurements to capture direction of first motion. Modern smartphones almost always come equipped with advanced geo-location services, which not only allow for a higher degree of accuracy for location in contrast to QCN sensors, but also allow the device to use the iShake application in any environment with a network connection.

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