Question

Let's say that an earthquake hit Santa Monica, CA and had a magnitude of 5.7. If another earthquake hit Charleston, SC and was a magnitude of 3.4, how much more intense was the earthquake in LA? _______________________________________________________________________ Intensity formula: (1 point) Responses 199.53 times 199.53 times 251.19 times 251.19 times 7.94 times 7.94 times 2.3 times

Answer 1

To compare the intensity of earthquakes, we can use the magnitude scale equation:

Intensity = 10^(1.5 * magnitude + 4.8)

Using this equation, we can calculate the intensity of the earthquake in Santa Monica:

Intensity_LA = 10^(1.5 * 5.7 + 4.8)

And the intensity of the earthquake in Charleston:

Intensity_SC = 10^(1.5 * 3.4 + 4.8)

To find out how much more intense the earthquake in Santa Monica was compared to Charleston, we can take the ratio of the intensities:

Ratio = Intensity_LA / Intensity_SC

We can calculate this ratio to find the answer.