Review Article | Published:

Quantification of Earthquakes

Nature volume 271, pages 411414 (02 February 1978) | Download Citation

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Abstract

Because earthquakes are the result of complex geophysical processes, it is not a simple matter to find a single measure of the size of an earthquake. Further, extremely large earthquakes saturate the conventional magnitude scale. Recent estimates of energy released by such earthquakes suggest values high enough to have possible implications for plate motion, the Chandler wobble and rotation of the Earth.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125.

    • Hiroo Kanamori

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/271411a0

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