Fill in the blank.
A magnitude 8 earthquake is _________ times more intense than a magnitude 3 earthquake.
A) 100000
B) 0.00001
C) 10000
D) 1000
E) 5

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Richter scale, which measures earthquake magnitude, is logarithmic. Each whole number increase on the scale represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude. Therefore, an earthquake that is 5 magnitudes higher (8-3=5) is 10^5 or 100,000 times more intense.

Fill in the Blank