GEOL 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Richter Magnitude Scale, Logarithmic Scale, Scientific Notation
Document Summary
Difference in arrival times at seismic station can be used to calculate distance. Triangulating location using at least 3 seismic stations. Energy released by quakes covers a large range. Need more convenient and simpler way of expressing values over large ranges (orders of magnitude) Numbers can be expressed using exponential notation: The logarithm of an exponential number reduces to the exponent log102 = 2. Every whole log number increase reflects a 10-fold increase in the actual value. A log scale to compare sizes of quakes. I richter scale was original method (1935) Original richter scale: a logarithmic scale to compare sizes of quakes. Calculated from the amplitude of the largest seismic wave recorded. Every whole number increase = 10x increase in amplitude. Every whole number increase = 10x increase in amplitude (~32x increase in energy) Calculated from the amplitude of the largest seismic waves. Local magnitude (ml): magnitude calculated by updated richter method.
