GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Each number increase on the Richter scale indicates an intensity ten times stronger. For example, an earthquake of magnitude 6 is ten times stronger than an earthquake of magnitude 5. An earthquake of magnitude 7 is 10 x 10 = 100 times strong than an earthquake of magnitude 5.

Detailed explanation-2: -No fault long enough to generate a magnitude 10 earthquake is known to exist, and if it did, it would extend around most of the planet. The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 on May 22, 1960 in Chile on a fault that is almost 1, 000 miles long…a “megaquake” in its own right.

Detailed explanation-3: -The magnitude of an earthquake is measured by the Richter scale, using the formula R=log(ll0) R = l o g ( l l 0 ), where l represents the actual intensity of the earthquake and I0 represents a baseline intensity for comparison.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Richter scale does NOT go from 1 to 10, or between any limits at all. Magnitude 0 and smaller earthquakes happen all the time. As a matter of fact, the smaller they are, the more frequently they occur, but the instrumental detection limit extends only to around magnitude-3.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.