In 1986 an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale hit northeast Ohio. This earthquake is _______ times as intense as a magnitude 2.0 quake

The Richter Scale is logarithmic, 5-2 = 3.

10^3 = 1000

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.

To determine how many times more intense a 5.0 magnitude earthquake is compared to a 2.0 magnitude quake, we can use the Richter scale equation.

The Richter scale measures the magnitude of seismic waves produced by an earthquake. It is a logarithmic scale, meaning that each whole number increase on the Richter scale represents a tenfold increase in the amplitude of seismic waves.

The formula to calculate the difference in intensity between two earthquake magnitudes is:

Intensity ratio = 10^(M2 - M1)

Where M2 is the magnitude of the more intense earthquake (in this case, 5.0) and M1 is the magnitude of the less intense earthquake (2.0).

Using this formula, we can calculate the intensity ratio:

Intensity ratio = 10^(5.0 - 2.0) = 10^3 = 1,000

Therefore, the 5.0 magnitude earthquake is 1,000 times more intense than a magnitude 2.0 quake.