How Do You Measure Earthquakes?
Home
Faults
Origins
Waves
Richter Scale
Links
When an earthquake occurs, scientists use a device called a seismograph to record the waves of energy released in the quake. A seismograph can determine what kinds of waves were produced, and how strong those waves are.
Scientists take the results from a seismograph and compare it to the Richter Scale. Using the scale, scientists can assign the earthquake a number for how strong it was.
Click here to see how earthquakes measure up: GEO.MTU.edu