GEOLOGY

EARTH SCIENCE

EARTHQUAKES

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which scale is used to report the magnitude of an earthquake?
A
Mercalli
B
Richter
C
Fujita
D
Morimoto
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The Richter scale measures the largest wiggle (amplitude) on the recording, but other magnitude scales measure different parts of the earthquake. The USGS currently reports earthquake magnitudes using the Moment Magnitude scale, though many other magnitudes are calculated for research and comparison purposes.

Detailed explanation-2: -The first widely-used method, the Richter scale, was developed by Charles F. Richter in 1934. It used a formula based on the amplitude of the largest wave recorded on a specific type of seismometer and the distance between the earthquake and the seismometer.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Richter scale is a base-10 logarithmic scale, meaning that each order of magnitude is 10 times more intensive than the last one. In other words, a two is 10 times more intense than a one and a three is 100 times greater. In the case of the Richter scale, the increase is in wave amplitude.

Detailed explanation-4: -1. Richter Scale is used to measure the scale of absolute ‘Magnitude’ of an earthquake based on the amount of seismic energy released. 2. Mercalli scale measures the ‘Intensity’ of an earthquake based on based on the amount of destruction caused.

There is 1 question to complete.