An increase of $1$ unit on the Richter scale corresponds to approximately $30$ times more energy released.…
An increase of $1$ unit on the Richter scale corresponds to approximately $30$ times more energy released. Approximately how many times more energy is released in an earthquake of magnitude $7$ compared to one of magnitude $5$?
$60$ times
$300$ times
$900$ times
$3000$ times
Solution
An increase of $2$ units ($5 \rightarrow 6 \rightarrow 7$) corresponds to $30 \times 30 = 900$ times more energy released.