Question

Is Richter scale linear? How does it help to estimate the destructive power of earthquake? [3 MARKS]

Answer 1

Each point: 1 Mark

1. Like many other scales in science (decibel is another example), Richter scale is not linear.
2. This means that an earthquake of magnitude 6 does not have one and half times the destructive energy of an earthquake of magnitude 4.
3. In fact, an increase of 2 in magnitude means 1000 times more destructive energy. For example, an earthquake of magnitude 6 has thousand times more destructive energy than an earthquake of magnitude.