moment magnitude scale

E77268

The moment magnitude scale is a modern logarithmic measure of earthquake size that estimates the total energy released, providing more accurate and consistent results than older magnitude scales for large events.

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This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

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Generate an image of a moment magnitude scale (The moment magnitude scale is a modern logarithmic measure of earthquake size that estimates the total energy released, providing more accurate and consistent results than older magnitude scales for large events.)

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Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf earthquake magnitude scale
logarithmic scale
seismic magnitude scale
alsoKnownAs Mw scale
moment magnitude
appliesTo intraplate earthquakes
subduction zone earthquakes
tectonic earthquakes
assumes elastic deformation of the Earth
basisFor global earthquake catalogs
comparedWith body-wave magnitude scale
local magnitude scale
surface-wave magnitude scale
correlatesWith average slip on the fault
fault rupture area
rigidity of the rocks
developedBy Hiroo Kanamori
Thomas C. Hanks
doesNotSaturateFor very large earthquakes
hasMathematicalBasis seismic moment tensor
hasProperty each unit increase corresponds to about 32 times more energy release
introducedFor overcoming saturation of older magnitude scales
introducedIn 1970s
isApproximatelyEqualTo Richter magnitude for moderate earthquakes
isDefinedFrom seismic moment M0
isGlobalStandard for reporting earthquake magnitude since late 20th century
isLogarithmicWithBase 10
isPartOf seismology
isPreferredOver Richter scale in modern seismology
isStandardFor reporting large earthquake magnitudes
isUsedBy global seismic monitoring agencies
seismologists
measures earthquake size
seismic moment
provides more accurate estimates for large earthquakes than the Richter scale
more consistent results across different earthquake types
quantifies total energy released by an earthquake
relatedTo Gutenberg–Richter law
replaced Richter magnitude scale for large earthquakes
symbol Mw
unit dimensionless
usedBy Global Centroid Moment Tensor Project
United States Geological Survey
usedToEstimate tsunami potential from large earthquakes

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (26)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Richter magnitude scale supersededBy moment magnitude scale
Richter magnitude scale supersededBy Mw scale
linked to: moment magnitude scale
Richter magnitude scale oftenConfusedWith moment magnitude scale
Mercalli intensity scale differentFrom moment magnitude scale
subject linked to: Mercalli
moment magnitude scale alsoKnownAs Mw scale
linked to: moment magnitude scale
2010 Chile earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
2010 Canterbury earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
1957 Mexico City earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
Thomas C. Hanks notableWork moment magnitude scale
Thomas C. Hanks coDeveloperOf moment magnitude scale
surface-wave magnitude scale relatedTo moment magnitude scale
Gutenberg–Richter law relatedTo moment magnitude scale
1946 Nankai earthquake magnitudeType moment magnitude scale
1707 Hoei earthquake magnitudeType moment magnitude scale
1908 Messina earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
1868 Hayward earthquake magnitudeType moment magnitude scale
1939 Erzincan earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
1944 Bolu–Gerede earthquake magnitudeType moment magnitude scale
1915 Avezzano earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
1977 Bucharest earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
Scaling laws for earthquakes relatesTo seismic moment–magnitude scale
linked to: moment magnitude scale
1980 Irpinia earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
Managua earthquake of 1972 magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
2017 Leyte earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
1946 Vancouver Island earthquake magnitudeScale moment magnitude scale
2016 Ecuador earthquake magnitudeType moment magnitude scale