The strongest recorded earthquake in the world took place in Chile on May 22 1960. It had a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale. The strongest quake actually recorded in Canada was magnitude 8.1 on August 22 1949 and occurred off the Queen Charlotte Islands. (The strongest quake ever in Canada, estimated to be magnitude 9.0, happened on the west coast on January 26 1700, killing hundreds of First Nations people. We know the date because the resulting tsunami devastated the Japanese coastline.)
1.
How many times more powerful was the Chilean quake than the Queen Charlotte quake?
2. If an earthquake only half as strong as the Queen Charlotte one were to happen today, what would its magnitude be?
0 answers