Was the Nepal earthquake twice as big as we thought?
Amidst the destruction, there was a spat on the issue between the US and China. The US Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors earthquakes worldwide, reported that the Nepal earthquake measured at a magnitude of 7.8. However, the China Earthquakes Network Center (CENC), which hopes to provide a similar service, measured the same earthquake at a magnitude of 8.1.
A difference of 0.3 in the magnitude of the seismic activity may not seem like much, but the apparently small differences in magnitudes of earthquakes reported by different agencies around the world are, in real-life, huge. Because if we are to believe the Chinese data, the Nepal earthquake may have been 2.8 times bigger than if we believe the US data.
This is because of how earthquakes are measured. The scale earthquakes are measured on is not linear... Read More
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Interesting Facts
Why women are more at risk than men in earthquake-ravaged Nepal. Natural disasters are thought to be indiscriminate killers—but is that strictly true?. It turns out disasters affect women much more than men... Read More
Meaning – Earthquake resistant: Key is to allow the building to swing. Quake-resistant buildings, an expression being widely used these days, refer to buildings that are designed to withstand the shock of earthquakes and not crumble... Read More
What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?
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