Question

How do earthquake waves travel from the place of origin?

Answer 1

During an earthquake, energy is released in waves that travel from the earthquake's focus or point of origin, in the form of seismic waves. The seismic waves radiate from the focus like ripples on the surface of a pond moving outward from where a stone is thrown into the water. Seismic waves cause intense shaking at the Earth surface that can cause buildings and roads to collapse.
Surface waves travel over the Earth's surface.

Rayleigh waves, also called ground roll, travel like ocean waves over the surface of the Earth, moving the ground surface up and down. Most of the shaking at the ground surface during an earthquake is typically caused by Rayleigh waves.

Love waves move the ground from side to side. They are the fastest of the surface waves. (They are named after a mathematician named Love studied them.)

Body waves travel through the Earth.

P-waves: These are the fastest type of seismic wave. As P-waves travel, the surrounding rock is repeatedly compressed and then stretched. P-waves can travel through both the solid rock and molten liquid layers of the Earth.

S-waves: These seismic waves arrive after the P-waves because they travel more slowly. The rock is shifted up and down or side to side as it travels foreword. S-waves can only travel through solid rock.

Answer 2

Mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves are two important ways that energy is transported in the world around us. Waves in water and sound waves in air are two examples of mechanical waves. Mechanical waves are caused by a disturbance or vibration in matter, whether solid, gas, liquid, or plasma. Matter that waves are traveling through is called a medium. Water waves are formed by vibrations in a liquid and sound waves are formed by vibrations in a gas (air). These mechanical waves travel through a medium by causing the molecules to bump into each other, like falling dominoes transferring energy from one to the next. Sound waves cannot travel in the vacuum of space because there is no medium to transmit these mechanical waves.