What happens inside the earth during a quake?
Good question. A tremendous amount of energy is released; the amount increases with the intensity of the quake. The rate at which the energy is released rises by a factor of 32 for each one-point increase in the magnitude of the quake. The “7+” earthquakes release so much energy that man-made explosions cannot even begin to match it. In 1906, San Francisco was rocked by a quake measuring 8.3; its power was enough to destroy one million Hiroshimas. What is the least magnitude that a person can feel? Anywhere between 2 and 3. Magnitude 5 is regarded as moderate and can be a cool, even memorable, experience for a large number of people. No major damages. But we’d like to point out that our world suffers 1,500 quakes of magnitude 5 or higher every year. If the Richter scale touches 6, it is big. Bad. The worst quake in human history measured 9 on the Richter Scale. Are some places more prone to earthquakes than others? Yes. As we said earlier, when two tectonic plates kiss, sparks fly, fir
