The table shows the location and magnitude of some notable earthquakes. How many times more energy was released by the earthquake in Mexico than by the earthquake in Afghanistan?
Earthquake
Location
Date
Richter Scale
Measure
Italy
October 31, 2002
5.9
El Salvador February
13, 2001
6.6
Afghanistan
May 30, 1998
6.9
Mexico
January 22, 2003
7.6
Peru
June 23, 2001
8.1
about 42.36
O times as much energy
O about 0.70 times as much energy
about 5.01 times as much energy
about 21 times as
• much energy
To determine how many times more energy was released by the earthquake in Mexico than by the earthquake in Afghanistan, we need to compare their magnitudes on the Richter scale.
The Richter scale measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake, with each whole number increase representing 10 times more energy.
The earthquake in Afghanistan had a magnitude of 6.9, while the earthquake in Mexico had a magnitude of 7.6. This means that the earthquake in Mexico released 10^(7.6-6.9) = 10^0.7 = about 5.01 times more energy than the earthquake in Afghanistan.
So, the answer is about 5.01 times as much energy.