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(6103) (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.