Question

In 2010, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake, which registered at 7.0 on the Richter scale. The largest recorded earthquake since 1900 occurred in 1960 in Valdivia, Chile, and registered at 9.5 on the Richter scale. About how many times greater was the intensity of the Chilean earthquake?

Answer 1

The Richter scale measures the earthquake in terms of logarithms. Therefore to calculate the intensity of the earthquake we have to find out the anti-log or inverse of the logarithm of the Richter scale number.

We are given the Haiti earthquake was measuring 7.0

The Chilean earthquake was measuring 9.5

So difference in Richter scale = 9.5 -7.0 = 2.5

So, Difference in intensity = $antilog_{10} (2.5)$ = 316

So intensity of the Chilean earthquake was 316 times greater than the Haitian earthquake

Answer 2

The correct answer is 316