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Intensity (MMI) Scale and The MSK Scale. Both Scales Are Quite Similar and

The document discusses the key differences between earthquake magnitude and intensity. Magnitude is a quantitative measure of the actual size of an earthquake based on the amplitude of seismic waves, while intensity is a qualitative measure of the observed shaking at a specific location on scales like MMI and MSK. While magnitude represents the overall energy released by an earthquake, intensity captures how strongly an area experiences shaking, which decreases with greater distance from the epicenter. So the same earthquake can produce varying intensities at different locations.

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33 views2 pages

Intensity (MMI) Scale and The MSK Scale. Both Scales Are Quite Similar and

The document discusses the key differences between earthquake magnitude and intensity. Magnitude is a quantitative measure of the actual size of an earthquake based on the amplitude of seismic waves, while intensity is a qualitative measure of the observed shaking at a specific location on scales like MMI and MSK. While magnitude represents the overall energy released by an earthquake, intensity captures how strongly an area experiences shaking, which decreases with greater distance from the epicenter. So the same earthquake can produce varying intensities at different locations.

Uploaded by

ArjunRathod
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE POINT ON THE FAULT WHERE SLIP STARTS IS THE FOCUS OR HYPOCENTER, AND THE POINT

VERTICALLY ABOVE THIS ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH IS THE EPICENTER (FIGURE 1). THE DEPTH OF
FOCUS FROM THE EPICENTER, CALLED AS FOCAL DEPTH, IS AN IMPORTANT PARAMETER IN DETERMINING
THE DAMAGING POTENTIAL OF AN EARTHQUAKE. MOST OF THE DAMAGING EARTHQUAKES HAVE
SHALLOW FOCUS WITH FOCAL DEPTHS LESS THAN ABOUT 70KM. DISTANCE FROM EPICENTER TO ANY
POINT OF INTEREST IS CALLED EPICENTRAL DISTANCE.

Magnitude is a quantitative measure of the actual size of the earthquake. Professor Charles Richter
noticed that (a) at the same distance, seismograms (records of earthquake ground vibration) of larger
earthquakes have bigger wave amplitude than those of smaller earthquakes; and (b) for a given
earthquake, seismograms at farther distances have smaller wave amplitude than those at close distances.
These prompted him to propose the now commonly used magnitude scale, the Richter Scale. It is obtained
from the seismograms and accounts for the dependence of waveform amplitude on epicentral distance.
This scale is also called Local Magnitude scale. There are other magnitude scales, like the Body Wave
Magnitude, Surface Wave Magnitudeand Wave Energy Magnitude. These numerical magnitude scales
have no upper and lower limits; the magnitude of a very small earthquake can be zero or even negative.
An increase in magnitude (M) by 1.0 implies 10 times higher waveform amplitude and about 31 times
higher energy released. For instance, energy released in a M7.7 earthquake is about 31 times that released
in a M6.7 earthquake, and is about 1000 (»31´31) times that released in a M5.7 earthquake. Most of the
energy released goes into heat and fracturing the rocks, and only a small fraction of it (fortunately) goes
into the seismic waves that travel to large distances causing shaking of the ground en-route and hence
damage to structures.

INTENSITY

Intensity is a qualitative measure of the actual shaking at a location during an


earthquake, and is assigned as Roman Capital Numerals. There are many
intensity scales. Two commonly used ones are the Modified Mercalli
Intensity (MMI) Scale and the MSK Scale. Both scales are quite similar and
range from I (least perceptive) to XII (most severe). The intensity scales are
based on three features of shaking – perception by people and animals,
performance of buildings, and changes to natural surroundings. Table 2 gives
the description of Intensity VIII on MSK Scale.
The distribution of intensity at different places during an earthquake is shown
graphically using isoseismals, lines joining places with equal seismic
intensity (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2: ISOSEISMAL MAP OF THE 2001 BHUJ (INDIA)


MAGNITUDE VERSUS INTENSITY

MAGNITUDE OF AN EARTHQUAKE IS A MEASURE OF ITS SIZE. FOR INSTANCE,


ONE CAN MEASURE THE SIZE OF AN EARTHQUAKE BY THE AMOUNT OF STRAIN
ENERGY RELEASED BY THE FAULT RUPTURE. THIS MEANS THAT THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE EARTHQUAKE IS A SINGLE VALUE FOR A GIVEN
EARTHQUAKE. ON THE OTHER HAND, INTENSITY IS AN INDICATOR OF THE
SEVERITY OF SHAKING GENERATED AT A GIVEN LOCATION. CLEARLY, THE
SEVERITY OF SHAKING IS MUCH HIGHER NEAR THE EPICENTER THAN FARTHER
AWAY. THUS, DURING THE SAME EARTHQUAKE OF A CERTAIN MAGNITUDE,
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INTENSITY.

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