Magnitude | Description | Earthquake effects | Frequency of occurrence |
Less than 2.0 | Micro | Micro earthquakes, not felt.[12] | About 8,000 per day |
2.0–2.9 | Minor | Generally not felt, but recorded. | About 1,000 per day |
3.0–3.9 | Often felt, but rarely causes damage. | 49,000 per year (est.) | |
4.0–4.9 | Light | Noticeable shaking of indoor items, rattling noises. Significant damage unlikely. | 6,200 per year (est.) |
5.0–5.9 | Moderate | Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions. At most slight damage to well-designed buildings. | 800 per year |
6.0–6.9 | Strong | Can be destructive in areas up to about 160 kilometres (100 mi) across in populated areas. | 120 per year |
7.0–7.9 | Major | Can cause serious damage over larger areas. | 18 per year |
8.0–8.9 | Great | Can cause serious damage in areas several hundred kilometres across. | 1 per year |
9.0–9.9 | Devastating in areas several thousand kilometres across. | 1 per 20 years | |
10.0+ | Massive | Never recorded, widespread devastation across very large areas; see below for equivalent seismic energy yield. | Extremely rare (Unknown) |
(Based on U.S. Geological Survey documents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale
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