Minor tornado damage typically includes missing shingles, damaged siding, and downed gutters.
Minor Earthquake damage would included cracks in walls.
More severe tornado damage would include the removal of the roof and sometimes walls with some debris blown down wind.
Earthquake damage might include partial collapse and/or damaged supports.
In the very strongest of tornadoes structures can be torn clean off their foundations, and are sometimes carried significant distances.
The very strongest of earthquakes will cause most structures to completely collapse, leaving behind piles of rubble.
There are two basic ways in which tornadoes cause damage. First, the wind in a tornado carries an enormous amount of force, which can damage tor destroy structures and vegetation. Second, debris carried by a tornado can cause significant damage on impact.
People avoid or limit an earthquake's damage by building structures that will not fail in the earthquake or subsequent events and make it safe at the same time.
Surface waves, specifically Love and Rayleigh waves, typically cause the most damage to surface structures and buildings during an earthquake. These waves travel along the Earth's surface and produce the strong shaking that can lead to structural damage and collapse.
In most cases, no. Most tornadoes are rated as weak. These tornadoes can cause damage, but generally only destroy weakly built structures. Even very violent tornadoes can be fickle in how they do damage. An EF5 tornado can destroy virtually any structure, and very little can withstand the full force of such a tornado. However, not all structures in that path of a tornado will experience its full destructive potential. In some cases, one structure in a tornado's path may be completely destroyed while the one next to it may only suffer minor to moderate damage. That said, a tornado of EF4 or EF5 damage can still produce a swath of complete destruction along at least part of its path.
The measure of how much damage an earthquake causes at the surface is called the "intensity" of the earthquake. This is typically assessed using the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, which rates the effects of an earthquake based on observations of damage and human experiences. Intensity varies from place to place depending on factors like distance from the epicenter, geological conditions, and building structures.
Tornado damage is caused by wind and debris, with the first visible damage usually occurring to the roof, windows, and exterior walls. Earthquake damage is caused by shaking and distortion of the ground. Structures destroyed by earthquakes usually collapses where they stand while those destroyed by tornadoes are often at least partially blown away.
Both tornadoes and earthquakes can damage or destroy buildings and infrastructure and can kill and injure people. However they cause damage in different ways.
tsunami
Earthquake magnitude and extent of damage to structures are positively correlated, meaning as the magnitude of an earthquake increases, the likelihood and severity of damage to structures also increases. This relationship is due to the fact that higher magnitude earthquakes release more energy, resulting in stronger shaking that can cause more damage to buildings and infrastructure.
The short-term damage from a tornado includes structures with varying degrees of damage, and downed and damaged trees and power lines. The severity of damage can range from minor damage to roofs and siding to well-built houses and other structures being completely blown away.
Structures and vegetation hit by the tornado will be damaged or destroyed. People and animals may be killed or injured.The degree of damage depends on the intensity of the tornado.
The rating on the Fujita or F scale of a tornado is determined by the severity of the damage it causes. Different levels of tornado have different levels of damage severity, ranging from the minor damage of an F0 tornado the the total destruction of an F5.
The strength of a tornado is determined by the damage it does to man-made structures and vegetation. When a structure takes damage from a tornado, the degree of damage, the type of structure, and its quality of construction are used to estimate the strength of the winds that caused that damage. This is then used to sort the tornado into one of six intensity categories of the Enhanced Fujita Scale, ranging from EF0 at the weakest to EF5 at the strongest.
Typical tornado damage includes snapped trees, material peeled from roofs, and some weak structures badly damaged. Typical damage from an intense tornado includes large numbers of trees snapped or uprooted, houses partially or completely destroyed, and weak structures completely torn apart or blown away.
Forecasters predict the amount of damage from a tornado by analyzing factors such as the tornado's size, intensity, path, and the type of structures in its path. They use computer models and historical data to estimate potential damage levels.
A tornado will usually cause damage to any trees or man made structures it encounters. For most tornadoes this damage will not be very severe. However, strong tornadoes can destroy many structures and pose a great risk to human life.
An 8.5 Earthquake is MUCH larger and does more damage.