2.Magnitude, Frequency, Regularity and Predictability Flashcards
Prediction
Impossible to predict when or where seismic disaster will strike
Eg Turkey North Anatolian Fault, predicted Izmit would be hit next however, Istanbul was affected and was to expected
Regularity
Earthquakes don’t follow a regular pattern or trend and their occurrence can be considered as random
Magnitude and frequency
Hundreds of low magnitude earthquakes happen everyday
High magnitudes occur much less frequently
Measurements Richter Scale
Measures magnitude of earthquake, is logarithmic, major earthquakes are above 7
Measurements MMS
Based on total amount of energy released
More accurate than the Richter scale especially for larger earthquakes
Measurements Mercalli scale
Measures impacts using observations of event
Scale between 1-12
12 causing total destruction