Posted by IRIS Earthquake Science Published on Oct 27, 2016 IRIS-USGS collaboration on 25th May 2019
Although often confused with each other, INTENSITY describes what is felt during an earthquake whereas MAGNITUDE is the measured size of the earthquake. This animation describes and gives examples of the factors that affect intensity. Animation and graphics by Jenda Johnson, geologist, Earth Sciences Animated Narrated by Wendy Bohon, Informal Education Specialist, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Written and edited by Robert Butler, geophysicist, University of Portland; and Robert de Groot, physical scientist, U.S. Geological Survey Reviewed by Wendy Bohon, Informal Education Specialist; and David Wald, geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap intensity maps from the United States Geological Survey Newsroom footage courtesy of KTLA Los Angeles (http://ktla.com) Kathmandu security video footage from "Nepal Earthquake 2015," YouTube Channel 1906 San Francisco footage from the National Archives (www.archives.gov/) “The Loma Prieta Earthquake” footage from California Highway Patrol, Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (https://archive.org) Shake Table experiment with permission from CUREE (Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering; www.curee.org/) Images of seismic intensity from Japan Meteorological Agency (http://www.jma.go.jp/) Photographs from the United States Geological Survey Maps from Google Earth Inscencer, musician/artist PCIII (freemusicarchive.org/) Made possible by support from the National Science Foundation