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Strauss's avatar

What is the difference between the Richter Scale and the moment magnitude scale?

Asked by Strauss (23813points) February 27th, 2010

While watching coverage of the Chilean earthquake, I heard it mentioned that the 8.8 magnitude was measured on the moment magnitude scale and not the Richter scale. How long has this measurement been used, and what actually being measured?

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3 Answers

dpworkin's avatar

The moment magnitude scale has superseded the Richter scale. The values remain pretty similar.

dpworkin (27090points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
dpworkin's avatar

Here’s a Wikipedia article with the technical details.

dpworkin (27090points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…

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