MODIFIED MERCALLI SCALE RITCHER SCALE

Felt by almost no one. 2.5 Generally not felt, but recorded on

I seismometers.
II Felt by very few people.

Tremor noticed by many, but they Felt by many people.

III often do not realize it is an 3.5
earthquake.
Felt indoors by many. Feels like a
IV truck has struck the building.
Felt by nearly everyone; many
V people awakened. Swaying trees
and poles may be observed.

Felt by all; many people run Some local damage may occur.
VI outdoors. Furniture moved, slight 4.5
damage occurs.
Everyone run outdoors. Poorly
built structures considerably
VII damaged; slight damage
elsewhere.

Specially designed structures A destructive earthquake.

VIII damaged slightly, others 6.0
collapse.
All buildings considerably
damaged, many shift off
IX foundation. Noticeable cracks in
ground.

Many structures destroyed. A major earthquake.

X Ground is badly cracked. 7.0

Almost all structure fall. Bridges 8.0 Great earthquakes.

XI wrecked. Very wide cracks in
and
ground.
up
Total Destruction, waves seen on
XII ground.

The Modified Mercalli Scale is somewhat
subjective, because the apparent intensity of an
earthquake depends on how far away from its
center the observer is located. Rating intensities
from I to XII, it describes and rates earthquakes
in terms of human reactions and observations.
The Richter Scale measures the motion of the
ground 100 km (60 mi) from the earthquakes
epicenter, or the location on the earths surface
directly above where the earthquake occurred. The
rating scale is logarithmic; each increase of 1 on
the scale represents a tenfold increase in the
motion of the ground.