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How do you measure the magnitude of an earthquake?
How do seismograms measure earthquake intensity?
What determines the intensity of an earthquake?
What scale is used to measure earthquakes?
Earthquake intensity scales describe the severity of an earthquake’s effects on the Earth's surface, humans, and buildings at different locations in the area of the epicenter. There can be multiple intensity measurements. The Modified Mercalli Scale measures the amount of shaking at a particular location.
Intensity is a measure of the shaking and damage caused by the earthquake; this value changes from location to location. Learn more: Earthquake Magnitude, Energy Release, and Shaking Intensity
There are a number of ways to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. Most scales are based on the amplitude of seismic waves recorded on seismometers. These scales account for the distance between the earthquake and the recording seismometer so that the calculated magnitude should be about the same no matter where it is measured.
No matter what scale is used, quakes are detected using devices called seismographs, which measure ground motion and produce images showing how these vibrations travel over time.
Magnitude is determined from measurements on seismographs. Intensity measures the strength of shaking produced by the earthquake at a certain location. Intensity is determined from effects on people, human structures, and the natural environment.
Over the past century, scientists have developed several ways of measuring earthquake intensity. The currently accepted method is the moment magnitude scale, which measures the total amount of energy released by the earthquake. At this time, seismologists have not found a reliable method for predicting earthquakes.
The Richter and MMS scales measure the energy released by an earthquake; another scale, the Mercalli intensity scale, classifies earthquakes by their effects, from detectable by instruments but not noticeable, to catastrophic. The energy and effects are not necessarily strongly correlated; a shallow earthquake in a populated area with soil of ...
