magnitude 9

A magnitude 9 earthquake is an extremely powerful seismic event, releasing a vast amount of energy. It can cause widespread destruction, with the potential to level buildings, trigger tsunamis, and affect large regions. These earthquakes usually originate deep underground and can be felt over hundreds of miles. The Richter scale, which measures earthquake size, is logarithmic, meaning each whole number increase represents roughly 32 times more energy. Therefore, a magnitude 9 earthquake releases over 30 times more energy than a magnitude 8, making it one of the most destructive types of tremors known.