About Seismote: Epicenter Watch
Find locations supported by the signals. Seismote: Epicenter Watch is a 3D geology puzzle about locating an already-recorded fictional earthquake from station records. Move one epicenter marker across a kilometre grid and compare its position with the distance bands inferred from rounded S−P delays.
The exercise states its model: a flat, zero-depth map with uniform P-wave speed 6 km/s and S-wave speed 3 km/s. Under those assumptions, distance is six times the S−P delay. Each station reports one rounded delay, so its measurement describes a band of possible distances rather than a perfectly precise circle.
Explore 180 records across First Signals, Range Readers and Network Watch. Three or four separated stations supply wider or narrower readings. Inspect a station, compare the marker’s approximate distance with its exact band, and use map selection, coordinate controls or one-kilometre nudges to revise your location.
Rounded records can leave more than one supported grid point. Every point inside every station’s band is accepted; the game does not score against a hidden original event location. Undo a move or request a hint toward a closest fitting point without moving the marker automatically.
This is a small location-after-an-event model, not a prediction or magnitude exercise. Earn up to three stars per record, revisit earlier challenges and retain your best stars, course position and sound preference on this device when browser storage is available.
How to Play Seismote: Epicenter Watch
Choose First Signals (Easy), Range Readers (Medium) or Network Watch (Hard). Each course contains 60 records. Easy uses three stations and a 0.5-second rounding step, Medium three stations and a 0.2-second step, and Hard four stations and a 0.1-second step.
Read each station’s single reported S−P delay and rounding step. The model uses P speed 6 km/s and S speed 3 km/s on a flat, zero-depth map: delay = distance/3 − distance/6, so distance = 6 × delay.
A rounded delay represents values from reported delay minus half a step, included, to reported delay plus half a step, excluded. The lower bound cannot be negative. Multiplying that interval by six gives the station’s distance band: its inner boundary is included and its outer boundary is excluded. The interface shows these bounds explicitly. Approximate marker distances are labelled as approximations; acceptance uses exact squared-distance comparisons.
Place the marker on any whole-kilometre grid point from 0 to 16 east and 0 to 16 north. North is up. Inspect the stations and move the marker until every station includes it, then check the location. Multiple fitting grid points may exist, and all are accepted.
Enter East and North whole-kilometre coordinates and choose Set marker; Enter while editing a coordinate applies the marker. Tap a grid point in Distance bands or the ground in the 3D station model to place the same marker. Direction buttons move one kilometre; north increases the North coordinate. Station buttons or map/model station markers inspect a station without moving the epicenter.
Desktop: arrow keys nudge one kilometre, 1–4 inspects an offered station, and Enter checks the location or continues after success when the view has focus. Z is Undo move, R is Reset marker, H requests a Signal hint and M toggles sound. Escape closes help. Tab and Enter activate focused controls normally.
Mobile: switch between Distance bands and 3D station model, tap the map or use the coordinate fields and direction buttons. Use Undo move, Reset marker, Signal hint, Check epicenter and the sound control.
Undo move restores the previous marker position, Reset marker restores its starting position and Signal hint highlights one suggested cardinal kilometre step toward a closest fitting point without applying it. Unsuccessful checks and hint use remain recorded after undo or reset.
Earn three stars with no unsuccessful checks or hints, two stars with up to two unsuccessful checks and no hints, or one star for every completed record. Best results are retained on replay.