Understanding the Richter Scale

The Richter Scale is used by scientists to measure the magnitude of earthquakes. The seismic waves of an earthquake that is 6.0 on the Richter Scale are ten times the amplitude of an earthquake that measures 5.0. In terms of energy released, a 6.0 earthquake releases 32 times more energy than a 5.0 earthquake. Since every increase of 1 on the Richter scale has an increased amplitude of 10, the Richter scale is a logarithmic scale rather than a linear one. Attribution: • Tsunami of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake on March 11 in Isohara, Kita-Ibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan    • 【東日本大震災】茨城県北茨城市磯原町における津波被害の様子Tsunami ...   by Edomurasaki, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license, Shortened clips from original • Seismograph image, by Yamaguchi先生, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, frame size changed to 1920x1080 from the original • By Archives New Zealand New Zealand from New Zealand - 1931 Hawkes Bay Earthquake - Town Hall, Napier, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51248583 • By Archives New Zealand from New Zealand - 1931 Hawkes Bay Earthquake - Port Ahuriri, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Hawkes+Ba… • By Archives New Zealand from New Zealand - 1931 Hawkes Bay Earthquake - Wairoa Post Office, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1931_Hawkes_Bay_Ea… • By Archives New Zealand from New Zealand - 1931 Hawkes Bay Earthquake - Port Ahuriri - HMS Veronica at Wharf,CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1931_Hawkes_Bay_Ea… • Charles Richter, 1900-1985, by en:Caltech photograph, 1970. Public Domain • Animation of 2004 Indonesia tsunami by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provided by Vasily V. Titov, Associate Director, Tsunami Inundation Mapping Efforts (TIME), NOAA/PMEL - UW/JISAO, USA., 30 December 2004. Public Domain • A photograph of the 2004 tsunami in Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand by David Rydevik, Stockholm, Sweden, 26 December 2004. Public Domain • A mosque is left standing amid the rubble in Banda Aceh, by The 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Initial Findings from Sumatra, 2005. Public Domain • Tsunami-Travel-Time of the earthquake of Valdivia, Chile, May 22, 1960. Contours are one hour intervals, source was originally NGDC Tsunami-Travel-Time Maps ; currently earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1960_…, 11 March 2006. Public Domain • Barringer Meteor Crater, Arizona.jpg, D. Roddy, U.S. Geological Survey, n.d. Public Domain

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