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What is the magnitude of an earthquake that is 10,000 times more intense than a standard earthquake

What is the magnitude of an earthquake that is 10,000 times more intense than a standard-example-1
User Quantium
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2 Answers

6 votes
The answer youre looking for is 4
User Wextux
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3 votes

In the equation you showed, I is the intensity of the earthquake and S is the intensity of a standard earthquake. The magnitude of this last one is “log S/S=0”. So, in the Richter Scale 0 is the same of the log of an earthquake with magnitude of 10. If we elevate 10 4 times, we reach to 10000, the times in the problem above. So, Richter Scale of '4' = lof(10⁴) = log(10000) = earthquake with a magnitude of 10000.

With this explained, you can notice how 4 is the correct answer.

User Andy Magoon
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