Question

If an earthquake has a magnitude of 3 on the richter scale, how many times greater is a shock wave than the smallest shock wave measurable on a seismograph? 2

Answer 1

he Richter scale is a logarithmic equation, which means that each successive number on the scale is 10 times greater than the previous one. So a 7 on the Richter scale is 10 times more powerful than a 6, but one-tenth as powerful as an 8.

The smallest recordable shock wave has a Richter scale magnitude of 1. This means that a magnitude of 2 ten times greater, a magnitude of 3 will be 100 times greater (102)…etc. Using this, we can surmise the following equation:

Where x is the Richter magnitude, and n is the how much greater the earthquake is than the smallest measurable shock. Substitute 20,000 for n:

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