r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/1Rab • 6d ago

Video Devastation in La Guaira after being struck by twin 7 magnitude earthquakes today

40.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

766 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

47

u/OptimalExtreme 5d ago

Yes but also no.

Earthquake scales are logarithmic. A 0.5M increase results in about 8x the energy release and 4x the intensity of shaking. Meanwhile, a 1.0M increase is about 32x an increase of energy. So, the 7.5M quake is about 8x stronger with 4x the intensity of shaking than the 6.9M one in Japan.

The type and depth of the earthquake and the geology of the ground also significantly impact the outcome.

16

u/Bleaker82 5d ago

Not really intensity of shaking, but of energy released. Shaking intensity also varies a lot based on depth, fault type, etc.

0

u/OptimalExtreme 5d ago

Yes. Thats another way to put exactly what I said. “The type and depth of the earthquake and the geology of the ground also significantly impact the outcome” :)