Seismic wave Seismic wave Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the Earth's layers, and are a result of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, magma movement, large landslides and large man-made explosions that give out low-frequency acoustic energy. Many other natural and anthropogenic sources create low-amplitude waves commonly referred to as ambient vibrations. Seismic waves are studied by geophysicists called seismologists. Seismic wave fields are recorded by a seismometer, hydrophone (in water), or accelerometer. The propagation velocity of the waves depends on density and elasticity of the medium.Velocity tends to increase with depth and ranges from approximately 2 to 8 km/s in
Passive seismic Passive seismic Passive seismic is the detection of natural low frequency earth movements, usually with the purpose of discerning geological structure and locate underground oil, gas, or other resources. Usually the data listening is done in multiple measurement points that are separated by several hundred meters, over periods of several hours to several days, using portable seismometers. The conclusions about the geological structure are based on the spectral analysis or on the mathematical reconstruction of the propagation and possible sources of the observed seismic waves. If the latter is planned, data are usually acquired in multiple (in the ideal case