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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2017
Solar flares are the strongest localized seismic disturbances on the solar surface. During the impulsive phase a high-energy electron beam heats the chromosphere, resulting in explosive evaporation of chromospheric plasma at supersonic velocities. This upward motion is balanced by a downward recoil in the lower part of the chromosphere that excites propagating waves in the solar interior. On the solar surface the outgoing circular flare waves resemble ripples from a pebble thrown into a pond. We report on first observations of the seismic effects of a solar flare from the SOHO Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) and compare the results with a theoretical model. Observation of flare seismic waves provide important information about the flare mechanism and about the subphotospheric structure of active regions.