An elastic wave generated by an impulse such as an earthquake or an explosion. Seismic waves may travel either along or near the Earth's surface (Rayleigh and Love waves) or through the Earth's interior (P and S body waves)
Christian Nerger and Johannes Schweitzer (Assisting Editor in Compiling), Glossary of Terms Frequently Used in Seismology and Observatory Practice, US Geological Survey (http://www.usgs.gov/), the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/) and the International Data Center of the CTBTO (http://www.ctbto.org), USA 2004. http://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/escido c:4141:2/component/escidoc:4142/Glossary_rev1.pdf% 3Bjsessionid=216960F299E7DC5292AAE080C9BACFB3, (ND/ Erthq - Amer) {25}