On a crisp April morning in New York City, residents were surprised by an unexpected event – the ground beneath their feet began to tremble and shake. This sudden earthquake left many questioning its cause and severity. Messages flooded in, with friends seeking answers and reassurance. People were curious about the connection to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Taiwan, as well as the magnitude of the tremors felt in the city.
It’s no wonder there was confusion. Earthquakes are not a common occurrence on the East Coast, and the last significant one happened over a decade ago. Add to that the fact that earthquakes generally make people nervous, as they have come to believe that such natural disasters only happen in faraway places, not close to home.
Part of the bewilderment stems from the way we measure earthquakes, which is often incomprehensible to the average person. We rely on logarithmic measures like the Richter scale, where each incremental increase represents a tenfold intensification. In other words, a quake with a magnitude of 8.0 is not just a little more severe than one with a magnitude of 4.0 – it is a staggering 10,000 times more intense. While today’s earthquake measured at a magnitude of 4.8, it may sound similar in intensity to the 5.8 earthquake that hit the East Coast in 2011. However, in reality, the 2011 quake was ten times stronger than the recent one.
This scale might make sense to scientists who specialize in describing high-intensity earthquakes but is incredibly perplexing to the general public. It would be beneficial if the scale were made more intuitive for everyone. For instance, on a linear scale, a magnitude 10 earthquake would be half as intense as a magnitude 20, and one-tenth as intense as a magnitude 100.
By modifying the measurement system, we could lessen the confusion and questions that arise following an earthquake. Instead of responding with uncertainty, we could simply grasp the intensity and impact of the event. It’s time to abandon the perplexing jargon and embrace a more relatable scale that allows us to understand the true magnitude of earthquakes.
