SOLUTION: Earthquake Magnitude Question: If an earthquake in 1906 had an intensity of 8.27 on the Richter Scale & a 2nd quake in 1989 had a magnitude of 6.9, How many times greater was the

Question 35678: Earthquake Magnitude Question:
If an earthquake in 1906 had an intensity of 8.27 on the Richter Scale & a 2nd quake in 1989 had a magnitude of 6.9, How many times greater was the magnitude of the 1906 quake than the 1989 quake?
I got 1.37 & I understand the intensity that if one quake is 7 & the other is 6 on the R.S. than the one that is 7 is 10 times as intenseas the one that is 6. So this one mentioned above is 10 times plus the .37 right? What is the correct answer? 10.37?
Answer by Earlsdon(6294) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
To compare the differences in magnitudes of earthquakes using the Richter scale, use the following:
Subtract the smaller Richter reading from the larger and use this as the exponent for 10.
To compare the two Richter readings in your problem, 8.27 - 6.9 = 1.37 Now use this as the exponent for 10.

The magnitude of the 1906 earthquake was 23.44 times larger than the 1989 earthquake.
P.S. The intensity of an earthquake diminishes as the distance from the epicenter.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Earthquake intensity, I, is given by the equation I=Io(10)^m, where m is the magnitude... (answered by Fombitz)

The Colombia earthquake of 1906 had an intensity of I = 398,107,000. What did it measure... (answered by chitra)

The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the Richter scale as a logarithm of the... (answered by Theo)

PLEASE HELP!! If an earthquake has a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter scale, what is the... (answered by Theo)

How many times more powerful was the earthquake in Alaska than the San Francisco... (answered by josgarithmetic)

How many times more powerful was the earthquake in Alaska (with a magnitude of 9.2 on the (answered by Theo)

This has me confused..... Using Richter scale equation M = log I/I^(0) where M is the (answered by stanbon)

I have no experiences using a logarithm so I need help trying to figure out how this... (answered by stanbon)

One of the strongest recorded earthquakes to date was in Colombia in 1906 with a Richter... (answered by stanbon)