On December 16, 1811, an earthquake occurred near New Madrid, Missouri, that temporarily reversed the course of the Mississippi River. The quake had a magnitude of 8.8. On October 17, 1989, a calamitous quake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale occurred in San Francisco during a World Series baseball game on live TV. The New Madrid quake was _______ times as intense as the San Francisco quake.
factor is 10^8.8/10^7.1
= 10^1.7
= appr 50 times as strong
Oh, earthquakes can really shake things up! Let's do some math to figure out the intensity comparison.
The Richter scale is logarithmic, which means that each whole number increase represents a tenfold increase in intensity. So, to find out how many times more intense the New Madrid quake was compared to the San Francisco quake, we can calculate:
Magnitude difference = magnitude of New Madrid quake - magnitude of San Francisco quake
= 8.8 - 7.1
= 1.7
Since each whole number increase on the Richter scale represents a tenfold intensity increase, we can raise 10 to the power of the magnitude difference:
10^1.7 ≈ 50.12
Therefore, the New Madrid quake was approximately 50.12 times as intense as the San Francisco quake. That's quite a powerful river-changing earthquake!
To determine the intensity ratio between the New Madrid quake and the San Francisco quake, we can calculate the difference in magnitude on the Richter scale.
The Richter scale is logarithmic, which means that each increase of one unit corresponds to a tenfold increase in the amplitude of the seismic waves.
Given that the New Madrid earthquake had a magnitude of 8.8 and the San Francisco earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1, we can calculate the difference:
8.8 - 7.1 = 1.7
Next, we need to convert the magnitude difference into an intensity ratio. For each increase of 1.0 magnitude on the Richter scale, the energy released by the earthquake increases by approximately 31.6 times.
Using this conversion factor, we can calculate the intensity ratio:
31.6 ^ 1.7 ≈ 97.98
Therefore, the New Madrid quake was approximately 97.98 times as intense as the San Francisco quake.
To determine how many times more intense the New Madrid earthquake was compared to the San Francisco earthquake, we can compare their magnitudes on the Richter scale.
The Richter scale is logarithmic, meaning that each whole number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in the amplitude of the seismic waves and approximately 31.6 times more energy released.
Given the magnitude of the New Madrid earthquake was 8.8 and the San Francisco earthquake was 7.1, we can calculate the difference in magnitude:
Magnitude difference = 8.8 - 7.1 = 1.7
To convert this magnitude difference into a factor of intensity, we use the equation:
Factor of intensity = 10^(Magnitude difference)
Calculating the factor of intensity:
Factor of intensity = 10^(1.7) ≈ 50.1
Therefore, the New Madrid earthquake was approximately 50.1 times more intense than the San Francisco earthquake.