Measuring the China Earthquake’s Magnitude


	Measuring the China Earthquake’s Magnitude

BobbyDelray

5-12-2008 2:37 PM

490 views

1 Comment |

Add a Comment

5-13-2008 12:49 PM

silvanaraihane

wow!

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

View the Top Clips from May 12, 2008

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/08cf50f9-36da-4b95-ac80-096fc0a303f2/DA301871-14A5-4A63-8D3B-98A550CBF3F1/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog" style="font-size: 11px;">blogs.wsj.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/blogs.wsj.com/img/7FEB52EB-E631-49B9-9D70-E27B6CA0E4B6" alt="USGS_art_257_20080512125006.jpg" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog"><DIV>A map of the earthquake-affected region, with red representing the greatest intensity. (Courtesy <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/shakemap/global/shake/2008ryan/">U.S. Geological Survey</A>)<BR clear="all" /></DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog">“Whether it’s a magnitude of 7.5, 7.6, 7.7 is not nearly as important as the fact that it’s near a population,” David Wald, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/neic/">National Earthquake Information Center</A> in Golden, Colo.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog">The magnitude does, however, convey vital information about a quake. It indicates the size of <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/glossary.php?termID=67">the fault</A>,</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog">it indicates the amount of movement, called <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/glossary.php?termID=174">slip</A></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog">These magnitude estimates are more properly called <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php?categoryID=2&faqID=23">moment magnitude</A> </blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog">To make <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2008/us2008ryan/#details">its estimates</A>, USGS relies on its stations and those from other countries that participate in the <A href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/monitoring/gsn.php">Global Seismographic Network</A>.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/measuring-the-china-earthquakes-magnitude-336/?mod=WSJBlog"><P>“You could have a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the wrong place and suffer extreme damage,” Dr. Wald said. “When you have a larger earthquake, though, you increase the odds [of significant damage].”</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/DA301871-14A5-4A63-8D3B-98A550CBF3F1/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Blog; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Related Clips

More clips from BobbyDelray

Today's Top Clips