There are two main scales to grade earthquakes one is the Mercalli (based on damage done) and the other is the Richter (based on the land waves\’ amplitude). The two are very different. Which is the one that\’s been used?
The Richter scale measures the energy discharged from the quake; a 3 on the richter scale releases the equivalent of 29 tons of tnt.
The Mercalli scale measures visible observations of damages; a 3-4 is noticable to most people indoors, some outdoors; dishes, windows rattle, many folks think it\’s a passing truck.
There are two main scales to grade earthquakes one is the Mercalli (based on damage done) and the other is the Richter (based on the land waves\’ amplitude). The two are very different. Which is the one that\’s been used?
The Richter Scale is the one that uses fractional magnitude numbers…..Mercalli uses whole numbers.
The Richter scale measures the energy discharged from the quake; a 3 on the richter scale releases the equivalent of 29 tons of tnt.
The Mercalli scale measures visible observations of damages; a 3-4 is noticable to most people indoors, some outdoors; dishes, windows rattle, many folks think it\’s a passing truck.
geek can\’t understand: 29 tons of TNT per…sq inch, sq yard, sq mile? Anyway 6.6 feckin what scale?
Thanx 4 the data. Still blind as to scale used. Journalism gettin worst…