Question

The rating system that estimates the total energy released by an earthquake is called the a. Richter scale. b. moment magnitude scale. c. mechanical seismograph scale. d. Mercalli scale.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option B, moment magnitude scale.

Moment magnitude scale basically measures the magnitude of an earthquake or the energy released by the earthquake.

The energy is measured using thermodynamic phenomenon. The energy released is in the form of elastic energy represented by “dU”. dU is directly proportional to the product of excess pressure (pe) in the magma chamber and volume decrease (−dVc) of the chamber

Thus, dU = −pedV

Answer 2

The rating system that is used to estimate the energy released by earthquake is moment magnitude scale.This rating system estimates the total energy released by an earthquake.The magnitude of earthquake tells the energy released by it. An increase in 1 point of magnitude denotes 32 times increase in energy .The more the magnitude the more is the effect of earthquake. This scale can be used for all the earthquakes of any size and at any location.