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The rector scale. 

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Q: What is a numerical scale used to measure the magnitude or energy release of an earthquake?
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What is the damage a magnitude 8 earthquake can cause?

A magnitude 8 earthquake can release as much energy as 6 million tns of TNT. It can cause severe damage to structures and can very fatal.


How is magnitude using the Richter scale?

The Richter magnitude scale (ML) scale, assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake. It is a logarithmic scale based upon the horizontal amplitude of the largest displacement from zero on a seismometer. Each whole unit (i.e., 1.0) corresponds to an approximate energy increase of 32 time (e.g., a 6.0 M earthquake has 32 time the energy release of a 5.0 M).


How many times more powerful is an earthquake measuring 7.0 than one measuring 5.0?

The Richter magniude scale is logorithmic. As such the size (amplitude) of the largest seismic waves produced by a magnitude 7 earthquake are 102 (or 100) times larger than those produced by a magnitude 5 earthquake. However the amount of energy released by a magnitude7 earthquake is 1000 times greater (102)^3/2 than a magnitude 5 earthquake and so it is likely to be much more destructive.


How is magnitude and intensity scale in earthquakes different?

Magnitude regards the size of the event of phenomena, whereas intensity refers to amounts over time. Intensity is akin to frequency. For example when measuring earthquakes, Richter scale gauges its force through magnitude, and its intensity is frequency of resonation felt.


When referring to earthquakes what is the difference between the Magnitude scale and the Richter scale?

The Richter Scale is a Magnitude scale - it is used to calculate the magnitude of small and medium sized earthquakes (those with a magnitude less than 7). The other scales most commonly used for recording Earthquakes are the Moment Magnitude Scale and the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.The Intensity scale of the Earthquake measures the effect of the earthquake at a particular location. In general it is highest at the epicenter and gets lower as you go further. The value of intensity changes from place to place.The Moment Magnitude scale measures the actual amount of energy released during the Earthquake and is derived based on the rigidity / stiffness of the crust, the length of fault that slipped and it's cross sectional area.An Earthquake has only one value of magnitude, and it does not change from place to place. The scale is logarithmic.However the now outmoded Richter Scale used a different method of deriving the energy release based on the maximum amplitude of the seismic waves detected on seismometers. As such it was a measurement of the local magnitude (i.e. local to the seismometer) rather than the absolute magnitude of the earthquake.

Related questions

How many more times energy does an earthquake with a Richter magnitude 8 release than an earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 6?

about a 1000


What is the damage a magnitude 8 earthquake can cause?

A magnitude 8 earthquake can release as much energy as 6 million tns of TNT. It can cause severe damage to structures and can very fatal.


How much less energy does a magnitude 4 earthquake have than a magnitude 7?

Each increase by one magnitude corresponds to a release of energy 31.6 times that released by the lesser earthquake.Since 7 is 3 magnitudes higher than 4, the magnitude 4 earthquake has roughly 1/31554th the energy of the magnitude 7.Each increase by one magnitude corresponds to a release of shaking amplitude 10 times that released by the lesser earthquake.Since 7 is 3 magnitudes higher than 4, the magnitude 4 earthquake has 1/1000th the shaking amplitude of the magnitude 7.The amount of energy changes much more rapidly with magnitude than the amount of shaking amplitude. This is a commonly made error.


What magnitude was the March 28 earthquake?

It was a pretty terrible event that affected thousands of people. It can be confusing talking about the magnitude of an earthquake as different countries can use different scales (Japan uses a different one from the international standard as one example). The 28 March earthquake was Magnitude 8.6 as measured in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia at 4.09 pm in 2005. The extra energy release to go further up the scale is exponential (meaning that a magnitude 2 earthquake is much more than double the energy of a magnitude 1 earthquake).


What is the energy of the earthquake magnitude?

The energy of an earthquake magnitude can be measured using the moment magnitude scale. The energy released by an earthquake is directly proportional to the magnitude of the earthquake. Each unit increase in magnitude represents a 32-fold increase in energy release. So, the energy of an earthquake magnitude can vary significantly depending on the specific magnitude.


How many earthquakes do we detect each year and how many cause damage?

a magnitude 7.2 earthquake produces 10 times more ground motion than a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, but it releases about 32 times more energy. The energy release best indicates the destructive power of an earthquake.


How is the amount of energy released related to its magnitude?

An increase of 1.0 on the magnitude scale equals 32 times the energy release. Therefore an increase of 2.0 would be 32x32, which is 1024 time the energy release. So a magnitude 7 earthquake releases 1024 times more energy than a magnitude 5.


Each step of 1 on the Richter scale of earthquake magnitude corresponds to a change in energy release of a factor of about?

exactly 10


Why is the intensity value of an earthquake more meaningful than magnitude to a non scientist?

The magnitude measures the total energy release. The intensity measures the... well, the instantaneous "shock" felt by an observer.


What does the Richter scale tell you about an earthquake?

The Richter scale provides a measure of the magnitude or energy released by an earthquake. It quantifies the amplitude (size) of seismic waves generated by the earthquake, which correlates with the earthquake's strength. The scale is logarithmic, meaning that each whole number increase on the scale represents a tenfold increase in the amplitude of shaking and approximately 31.6 times more energy release.


The richter scale is used by scientists to measure the amount of energy release by an?

The richter scale is used by scientists to measure the amount of energy release by an earthquake.


How is magnitude using the Richter scale?

The Richter magnitude scale (ML) scale, assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake. It is a logarithmic scale based upon the horizontal amplitude of the largest displacement from zero on a seismometer. Each whole unit (i.e., 1.0) corresponds to an approximate energy increase of 32 time (e.g., a 6.0 M earthquake has 32 time the energy release of a 5.0 M).