[Geology2] USGS Makes it Easy to Gauge EQ Energy

USGS makes it easy to gauge earthquake energy

By Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune

Monday, May 2, 2011 at 9:46 p.m.

When a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan on March 11, reporters scrambled to figure out how much larger the event was than previous shakers. Turns out there's a simple way to do it. The U.S. Geological Survey has an online calculator that allows anyone to quickly compare the amount of energy released by earthquakes of different magnitudes.

CLICK HERE to go to the USGS calculator.

We used the software to compare the Japan quake with the 7.2 shaker that erupted near Mexicali on March 4, 2010. We're talking about the so-called 'Easter Sunday' quake, which is officially known as the El Mayor-Cucapah event.

The software says that a 9.0 quake is 63 times bigger than a 7.2, but that is about 502 times stronger, in terms of energy released.

Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/02/usgs-makes-it-easy-gauge-earthquake-energy/?sciquest

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