What do the numbers on the Richter Scale tell us?
Each unit of the Richter Scale is a tenfold increase in the relative size of an earthquake. A magnitude 6.0 is ten times the size of a magnitude 5.0, and one hundred times the size of a 4.0. But energy release is a different matter. Each unit up the Richter Scale is around a 32 times greater release of energy. A magnitude 6.0 releases 32 times more energy than a mangitude 5.0, and about one thousand times more energy than a magnitude 4.0 The amount of energy released in a small earthquake is not enough to prevent a large one from occurring. A million magnitude 2.0 earthquakes would release the same amount of energy as one magnitude 6.0 quake. 32,768 magnitude 2.0 earthquakes would release the same amount of energy as one magnitude 5.0 Of greatest concern in the near future, then , are the 6.0 to 6.5 events. Damaging earthquakes in this magnitude range are possible within the lifetimes of our children. Two have occurred since 1811-1812, one in 1843, and another in 1895. Many things can
