How many times more energy does an earthquake with a richter magnitude of 8 release than an earthquake
with a richter magnitude of 7?

a) about 2 times more energy
b) about 31 times more energy
c) about 961 times more energy
d) about 1,000,000 times more energy

b) About 31 times more energy

Explanation:

Lot of people get confused with the way in which the earthquake magnitude is calculated. The scale for measuring the earthquakes is logarithmic, so every whole number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in the measured amplitude. This results in every consecutive whole number the earthquake to be 33 times more powerful than the previous one, so the difference in power between magnitude 7 and magnitude 8 is 33 times. If we take magnitudes that are not consecutive numbers, like magnitude 6 and magnitude 8, then the difference in power will be around 1,000 times.