Question

I’m 2009, an earthquake hit Costa Rica, registering a 6.1 on the Richter scale. What was the intensity of this earthquake, assuming the reference value was 1?

Answer 1

Answer:

$1.26\times 10^{6}$ ( approx )

Step-by-step explanation:

We know that,

The magnitude equation of an earthquake in richter scale is,

$R=log(\frac{I}{I_0})$

Where, I represents the intensity of the earthquake,

$I_0$ represents the reference intensity of the earthquake,

Given, R = 6.1,

$I_0=1$

By substituting the values in the above equation,

$6.1=log(\frac{I}{1})$

$6.1=logI$

Taking exponent on both side,

$10^{6.1}=I$

$\implies I = 1258925.41179= 1.25892541179\times 10^{6}\approx 1.26\times 10^{6}$

Answer 2

Answer:

If the reference value was one then shouldn't it be 6.1 times more?

Step-by-step explanation: