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When referring to earthquakes what is the difference between the Magnitude scale and the Richter scale?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
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.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
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What it measured on the Richter scale?
Richter scale measures the magnitude of earthquakes.
Which is not a factor in calculating the moment magnitude of an earthquake?
magnitude of past earthquakes in the area
What is the name of the scale that measures earthquakes?
The Richter scale was originally developed to measure the strength or magnitude of moderate earthquakes (magnitudes less than 7). The surface wave magnitude scale was then developed by Richter and Guttenburg to allow larger earthquake magnitudes to be measured (up to 8). To measure large earthquakes the moment magnitude scale must be used. To measure the severity of earthquakes, the Modified Mercalli intensity scale is used in the US and the Macroseismic scale is used in Europe.
What scale is measured for an earthquakes strength?
Richter scale is used for measuring earthquakes. It is a scale which works from 1 to 10 magnitude.
Who is the magnitude scale for earthquakes named after?
The local or Richter magnitude scale is named after Charles Francis Richter an American seismologist and geophysicist. Some people use the title Richter-Gutenberg scale to acknowledge the contribution to the scale of Charles Richter's colleague, Beno Gutenberg a fellow geophysicist at the California Institute of Technology. it is worth noting however that geophysicists / seismologists use the moment magnitude scale in place of the Richter magnitude scale when possible as it is more reliable for large magnitude earthquakes (greater than 6.9) and for earthquakes that occur a long distance away from the nearest seismometer station (greater than 600 km).
What it measured on the Richter scale?
Richter scale measures the magnitude of earthquakes.
What is the difference in the Richter scale and magnitude?
The Richter scale is a magnitude scale - it measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake. As such tit is a way of quantifying earthquake magnitude and comparing it to other earthquakes.
What do you call the instrument that records the magnitude of the earthquakes?
richter
What is the scale used to magnitude of earthquakes?
Richter Scale~
Why are Richter scales called Richter Scales?
The Richter scale, which measures the magnitude of earthquakes, was developed by Charles Richter in 1935.
What does a Richter scale indicates about an earthquake?
Measures the magnitude of earthquakes.:)
What is uesd to measure the strength of earthquakes?
The Richter scale and Magnitude
What scale is used to describe the magnitude of earthquakes?
a Richter scale
How are earthqukes classified?
Earthquakes are classified on the Moment Magnitude scale based on the total amount of energy released. A difference of 1 on the scales (say a 5.0 and a 6.0) means an difference in intensity of a factor of 101.5 or approximately 32.
Does the Richter scale cause earthquakes?
No. The Richter scale is a way for scientists to describe how much energy was released by an earthquake (this is known as the earthquakes magnitude).
Which is not a factor in calculating the moment magnitude of an earthquake?
magnitude of past earthquakes in the area
What sort of graf can you mejer earthquakes with?
You can measure earthquakes on the Moment magnitude scale or the Richter scale
