Magnitude
The logarithmic measure of earthquake energy release, where each whole number represents roughly 32 times more energy.
Magnitude describes the earthquake; it does not describe what happens at your site. A shallow magnitude 4 nearby can shake harder than a distant magnitude 6, because depth and distance govern the ground motion actually experienced.
For siting, the useful reading is the pattern: how many events, at what depths, how close, and whether the rate is changing over time.
Where this shows up in the data
See also
More in Environmental & permitting
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