How Are Earthquake Magnitudes Measured?: The Richter Scale

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How Are Earthquake Magnitudes Measured?

The Richter Scale The magnitude of most earthquakes is measured


on the Richter scale, invented by Charles F. Richter in 1934. The Richter
magnitude is calculated from the amplitude of the largest seismic wave
recorded for the earthquake, no matter what type of wave was the strongest.

The Richter magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale (base 10). What
this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the
amplitude of the ground motion recorded by a seismograph goes up ten
times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times
the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake (and 32 times as
much energy would be released). To give you an idea how these numbers
can add up, think of it in terms of the energy released by explosives: a
FIGURE 1 - CHARLES
RICHTER STUDYING A magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces
SEISMOGRAM. of TNT. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6
million tons of TNT. Pretty impressive, huh? Fortunately, most of the
earthquakes that occur each year are magnitude 2.5 or less, too small to be
felt by most people.

The Richter magnitude scale can be used to describe earthquakes so small that they are expressed
in negative numbers. The scale also has no upper limit, so it can describe earthquakes of
unimaginable and (so far) unexperienced intensity, such as magnitude 10.0 and beyond.
Although Richter originally proposed this way of measuring an earthquake's "size," he only used
a certain type of seismograph and measured shallow earthquakes in Southern California.
Scientists have now made other "magnitude" scales, all calibrated to Richter's original method, to
use a variety of seismographs and measure the depths of earthquakes of all sizes.

The Mercalli Scale


Another way to measure the strength of an earthquake is to use the Mercalli
scale. Invented by Giuseppe Mercalli in 1902, this scale uses the
observations of the people who experienced the earthquake to estimate its
intensity.

The Mercalli scale isn't considered as scientific as the Richter scale, though.
Some witnesses of the earthquake might exaggerate just how bad things
were during the earthquake and you may not find two witnesses who agree
on what happened; everybody will say something different. The amount of
damage caused by the earthquake may not accurately record how strong it
was either.

FIGURE 2 - GIUSEPPE MERCALLI

Some things that affect the amount of damage that occurs are:
• the building designs,
• the distance from the epicenter,
• and the type of surface material (rock or dirt) the buildings rest on.
Different building designs hold up differently in an earthquake and the further you are
from the earthquake, the less damage you'll usually see. Whether a building is built on
solid rock or sand makes a big difference in how much damage it takes. Solid rock
usually shakes less than sand, so a building built on top of solid rock shouldn't be as
damaged as it might if it was sitting on a sandy lot.
Questions
1. How is the energy of the Richter Scale measured?

2. When reading about the Richter scale, what does a logarithmic scale mean?
3. How much more energy is there on the Richter scale when you increase by one whole number?

4. According to the Richter scale, how often do weak earthquakes occur? How often do the
strongest occur?

5. Write a GIST (25 words or less) summarizing the Richter Scale:


6. How come the Mercalli scale is not considered scientific?

7. What Mercalli rating would you get if your dishes in the kitchen began to break?

8. What rating would you give if underground water pipes broke?

9. What are some things that damage can depend on?

10. Fill out the Venn Diagram below, by comparing/contrasting the Richter and Mercalli scales.
Richter Mercalli

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