Connecticut seismograph picked up Cuba earthquake more than 1,000 miles away
www.newstimes.com

... A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck offshore near western Cuba Tuesday afternoon, and while the strongest shaking was far from Connecticut, the Westport Astronomical Society's seismograph picked up the quake's signature more than 1,000 miles away.

Here's the neat part: earthquakes do not just rattle the ground near the epicenter. They send waves through and around the planet, a little like dropping a pebble into a pond. The first waves to arrive are usually the speedy P-waves. Then come slower S-waves. After that, the bigger, rolling surface waves often show up as the most obvious wiggles on a seismogram, especially from a distant earthquake.

On the Westport display, the Cuba quake shows up as a noticeable burst of motion on the lower green trace during the 2 p.m. EDT hour. To the casual eye, the graph's output might look like a squiggle with attitude. To a seismologist, it is the Earth carrying energy outward from a sudden slip in the crust. ...

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