Why do p-waves cause little if no damage at all in an earthquake?

1 Answer
Nov 5, 2016

They are body waves with smaller amplitude and lower frequencies than more damaging waves.

Explanation:

P waves are the first seismic wave to reach an area. The p wave has a much smaller amplitude and lower frequencies than S waves or surface waves so they do much less damage. Surface waves tend to do more damage anyway since they are not as deep as body waves.