| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Charles Richter | invented the Richter scale |
| 1934 | Richter scale was invented |
| magnitude 1 | seismic waves releases as much energy as blowing 6 ounzes of TNT |
| magnitude 8 | earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT |
| seismometer | tool used to measure earthquake's strength by measuring the degree to which causes the weight to be displaced on the meter |
| calibration techniques | used to determine what the displacement would have been if the seismometer were actually located at the epicenter of an earthquake |
| Richter magnitudes | based on a logarithmic scale (base 10)- each number you go up on Richter scale, the amplitude of the ground motion recorded goes up by 10 times |
| below 2.0 | microquake |
| microquake | undetectable to a normal person |
| below 6.0 | moderate earthquake |
| above 6.0 | significant damage |
| tsunami | series of waves, made in an ocean or other body of water by an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, or meteorite impact |
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