Menu Close

Why An earthquake with a moderate magnitude might have a high intensity?

Why An earthquake with a moderate magnitude might have a high intensity?

Give two reasons why an earthquake with a moderate magnitude might cause more extensive damage than an earthquake with a high magnitude? The proximity of people and buildings to the location of the moderate magnitude may be closer. What rock type the buildings are on makes a difference.

Can a high magnitude earthquake also be low intensity?

When an earthquake occurs, its magnitude can be given a single numerical value on the Richter Magnitude Scale. However the intensity is variable over the area affected by the earthquake, with high intensities near the epicentre and lower values further away.

Is it possible for an earthquake to have a moderate magnitude?

See the Intensity section below for more details on shaking intensity measurements. Magnitude is expressed in whole numbers and decimal fractions. For example, a magnitude 5.3 is a moderate earthquake, and a 6.3 is a strong earthquake.

How is intensity related to magnitude when an earthquake occurs?

Magnitude and Intensity measure different characteristics of earthquakes. Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake. Magnitude is determined from measurements on seismographs. Intensity measures the strength of shaking produced by the earthquake at a certain location.

How is the intensity of an earthquake measured?

There can be multiple intensity measurements. The Modified Mercalli Scale measures the amount of shaking at a particular location. An important piece of information to keep in mind is that the magnitude scale is logarithmic.

What’s the difference between a moderate and a strong earthquake?

For example, a magnitude 5.3 is a moderate earthquake, and a 6.3 is a strong earthquake. Because of the logarithmic basis of the scale, each whole number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude as measured on a seismogram.

How many magnitudes are there in an earthquake?

An earthquake has a single magnitude. The shaking that it causes has many values thay vary from place to place based on distance, type of surface material, and other factors. See the Intensity section below for more details on shaking intensity measurements.

Do you underestimate the size of an earthquake?

When initially developed, all magnitude scales based on measurements of the recorded waveform amplitudes were thought to be equivalent. But for very large earthquakes, some magnitudes underestimate true earthquake size, and some underestimate the size.