Final answer:
Fewer waves at some seismic stations might be due to a malfunction in the station's seismometer or the earthquake occurrence deep underground. P-waves arrive before S-waves at seismograph stations. Constructive interference can lead to greater wave amplitudes away from an earthquake's epicenter, while the intensity of waves diminishes with distance from the source.
Step-by-step explanation:
Two statements that explain why fewer waves were recorded at some stations would be:
- The station's seismometer was malfunctioning, which would result in inaccurate or incomplete data being recorded.
- The earthquake was deep underground, as deeper earthquakes might not be detected as easily at the surface, leading to fewer waves being recorded at certain stations.
Regarding the arrival times of waves at seismograph stations, P-waves (primary waves) would arrive first, followed by the slower S-waves (secondary waves).
During earthquakes, some areas near the epicenter may not experience damage while areas farther away might, due to several phenomena such as resonance, standing waves, constructive interference, and destructive interference. Specifically, constructive interference can result in waves with greater amplitudes being formed in places farther away from the epicenter, potentially causing more damage in those areas compared to those closer to the epicenter.
When discussing the intensity of waves, whether sound waves from a speaker or seismic waves from an earthquake, the intensity diminishes with distance from the source due to the spreading of energy over a larger area.