How are earthquakes recorded?
By a seismographic network. Each seismic station in the network measures the movement of the ground at the site. The slip of a block of rock over another in an earthquake releases energy that makes the ground vibrate. That vibration pushes the adjoining piece of ground and causes it to vibrate, and thus the energy travels out from the earthquake in a wave. • Q: What is the most common method used to measure an earthquake? A: Magnitude is the most common measure of earthquake size (used to tell the public). Magnitude is a measure of the energy produced by an earthquake and is not what you feel during the event. In the 1930, Beno Gutenberg and Charles Richter borrowed the idea from astronomers. • Q: What is moment magnitude? A: Moment is a physical quantity proportional to the slip on the fault times the area of the fault surface that slips; it is related to the total energy released in the earthquake. The moment can be estimated from seismograms (and also from geodetic measurements). Th
