Question

Earthquake A had a magnitude of 8.2 on the Richter scale. At the same time an earthquake B with magnitude 4.6 caused only minor damage. How many times more intense was earthquake A than earthquake B? (Round your answer to two decimal places.)

Answer 1

The Richter scale is logarithmic, which means that for every one-unit increase in magnitude, the energy released by the earthquake increases by a factor of 10.

To calculate how many times more intense earthquake A was than earthquake B, we need to find the difference in their magnitudes and then raise 10 to that power.

The difference in magnitudes is:

8.2 - 4.6 = 3.6

To find how many times more intense earthquake A was than earthquake B, we need to raise 10 to the power of 3.6:

10^3.6 = 3981.07

Therefore, earthquake A was approximately 3981.07 times more intense than earthquake B. Rounded to two decimal places, the answer is 3981.07.