Question

A magnitude-5.0 earthquake releases about ____ Times more energy than a 4.0 magnitude earthquake.

Answer 1

A magnitude-5.0 earthquake releases about 32 times more energy than a 4.0 magnitude earthquake.

Explanation:

The characteristics of an earthquake are mostly measured through its magnitude and intensity.

A earthquake will generate seismic energy waves which will spread outwardly on the earth's surface in all directions.

The magnitude of an earthquake is the quantitative measure of the amount of energy released during a seismic activity or an earthquake.

The intensity of an earthquake is a descriptive measure of the severity or the strength of the earthquake based on the impact it has done on the earth’s surface, human population, and other man-made structures on the earth and the potential danger.

The magnitude measured using a seismograph is expressed as a whole number or a decimal fraction like 5.7, 4.5 etc. The severity of the magnitude is compared against the standard Richter’s Scale.

The intensity is denoted in Roman numerals and compared against various scales like Mercalli or Rossi-Forel Scales.

Based on the logarithmic application of the scale, each whole number increase in an earthquake’s magnitude depicts a ten-fold increase in severity of the amplitude of the earthquake as measured on the seismogram and denotes about 32 times increased energy release .