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Q · Earthquakemedium · 45s
Which scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake?
TopicEarthquake
Question Typemultiple choice
Difficultymedium
Marking+1 / −0.33
Test Duration30 min
Step-by-Step Solution
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The Richter scale quantifies the magnitude of an earthquake based on the amplitude of seismic waves recorded by seismographs. It is a logarithmic scale where each whole number increase represents a tenfold increase in amplitude and about 31.6 times more energy release. Unlike intensity scales, the Richter scale provides a single value to represent the earthquake's size irrespective of location.
Final Answer: Option A - Richter scale