Estimate the physical energy release implied by an earthquake magnitude and compare it with another event.
Estimated energy release
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Enter an earthquake magnitude to estimate joules released and compare it with a reference event.
Tap an example to prefill the calculator with sample values.
One-magnitude jump
Magnitude 4.5 compared with 3.5
A one-point change on the magnitude scale looks small, but it implies a very large jump in energy release.
Result: A one-point increase works out to about 31.6 times more energy.
Regional major quake
Magnitude 6.8 versus 5.5
Useful for translating a familiar headline magnitude into the much steeper energy curve underneath it.
Result: A 6.8 event releases roughly 89 times the energy of a 5.5 event.
Great quake scale
Magnitude 8.9 versus 7.0
The highest-magnitude earthquakes are separated from already-destructive magnitude-7 events by thousands of times more energy.
Result: An 8.9 event releases several thousand times more energy than a 7.0 event.