What is the vector Sum?

First of all, the vector sum is rarely used and should be ignored unless there is a need for it to be referenced.  Each time the seismograph takes a sample, there is a value for the radial (longitudinal), vertical and transverse.  The vector sum at that sample is the square root of the sum of the squares of those values.

Example

At time t = 1.0 Second Radial = 0.30 Vertical = -0.15 Transverse = 0.27 Vector Sum = Sqrt(0.09 + 0.0225 + 0.0729) = 0.43

This is just the vector sum at a time of 1.0 second.  At the next sample time there will be another vector sum value.  The peak vector sum is the largest of all of these values.

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