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What is the significance of an earthquake's depth for a given magnitude?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Magnitude is a measure of the amplitude, or strength, of the seismic waves produced by the rocks releasing energy by moving below the surface of the earth.
Depth simply refers to how far down below the earth's surface the earthquakes originates. The deeper the depth of the focus (where the earthquake begins) the farther the energy released has to travel to reach the earth's surface. Because the seismic waves travel farther through the crust, they lose amplitude or energy along the way, becoming weaker.
So, if you have two earthquakes that release the same amount of energy, the deeper one will have a lower magnitude at the earth's surface.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoA hard question because it asks to compare apples and Oranges, so to speak. plate boundaries are expressed as fault zone traces at the Earths surface, for example, the San Andeas fault. as strain is built up along the fault because of plate motion, eventually an earthquake uccurs because the plates will slip past each other. The greater thee slip the bigger the earthquake. However, earthquake strain depends on depth as a lot of compressive energy has to be stored to be released as an earthquake. Generally this occurs at depths greater than about 5 km. Really great earthquakes occur along subducting plate boundaries at depths from about 15 to 40 km, but rarely much deeper because below about 40 km the rocks become plastic and tend to flow rather than break.
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoThe deeper an earthquake is, the less effect it has in the surface of the Earth in the way of buildings destroyed etc.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThe magnitude is not affected by the depth. Both factors together determine the level of destruction caused by an earthquake.
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Did California just have an earthquake?
We don't know how to predict earthquakes. Given California's history and that it is on a fairly active fault line we can say that it will certainly continue to have earthquakes and at some point there will be a big one. But as to when, no one knows.
What is the average number of earthquakes per year?
I have been doing some maths and found that in the average year, you'd get about 3,610,364(3 million, 6hundred and 10 thousand, 3hundred and sixty four) earthquakes in a year. Ofcourse these are all around the globe. About 2 million of these are bellow 2 on the Richter scale.
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The answer would be false. What is clearly unpredictable is the magnitude of any given earthquake.
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A Richter scale also known as local magnitude (ML) scale: Heres a copy of one http://www.sdgs.usd.edu/publications/maps/earthquakes/images/RichterScale.gif
Did California just have an earthquake?
We don't know how to predict earthquakes. Given California's history and that it is on a fairly active fault line we can say that it will certainly continue to have earthquakes and at some point there will be a big one. But as to when, no one knows.
What scale measures earthqukes?
The moment magnitude scale, the Richter scale (which can only be used for low and moderate magnitude earthquakes less than 6.9) and the modified mercalli intensity scale are used to measure earthquakes.
What scale helps you determine the magnitude of an earthquake?
There are two instruments, which are basically the same thing. There is the seismograph , and a more specific tool measures the waves on what is called the Richter scale. Earthquakes are given a number from one to ten, ten being the strongest. The strongest earthquake that their ever was, was measured a 9.3.
At a given moment in time instantaneous speed can be thought of as the magnitude of instantaneous?
velocity
What is the term that refers to the strength of earthquakes as measured by seismic waves and movement along faults?
The term for the instrument that measures the seismic waves of earthquakes along faults or tectonic plates is known as a seismograph. These machines measure the force given off by the trembling of the ground due to the force of an earthquake. The strength is measured as magnitude on the "Richter scale" which is a logarithmic quantity. For example, the motion generated by a quake of magnitude 5 on the Richter scale is 10 times as large as that generated by a quake of magnitude 4.
What is the average number of earthquakes per year?
I have been doing some maths and found that in the average year, you'd get about 3,610,364(3 million, 6hundred and 10 thousand, 3hundred and sixty four) earthquakes in a year. Ofcourse these are all around the globe. About 2 million of these are bellow 2 on the Richter scale.
What name is given to the study of earthquakes?
Seismology.
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