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Earthquakes and the Richter Scale

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The intensity level of an earthquake is based on the Richter scale. Using logarithms, the Richter scale measures an earthquake relative to (as a ratio of) the weakest possible tremor.

-What is the formula for measuring earthquakes?
-Why is a 7.0 earthquake ten times stronger than a 6.0 earthquake?

Pick an earthquake in your region of the world.
- Give the measurement of the earthquake. Explain what this measurement means.

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The actual formula for measuring earthquakes is:

M = log A + (Distance correction factor)

"M" is the magnitude.
"A" is the amplitude (measured in millimeters) measured directly from the photographic paper record of the Wood-Anderson seismometer, a special type of instrument.

The Richter Magnitude Scale "is a base-10 logarithmic scale obtained by calculating the logarithm of the ...

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