surface wave

Surface waves are a type of seismic wave that travels along the Earth's surface, rather than through its interior. These waves are generated by energetic sources like earthquakes or explosions.1

There are two main types of surface waves:
* Love waves: These travel faster and cause displacement perpendicular to the direction of propagation.1
* Rayleigh waves: These involve a combination of longitudinal compression and dilation, resulting in an elliptical motion of points on the surface.1

Surface waves produce strong records on seismographs even from distant earthquakes because their energy spreads in two dimensions, unlike body waves which spread in three. The characteristics of surface waves are influenced by the mechanical properties of the rocks and soil they encounter, such as incompressibility, rigidity, and density.12