How Big Are Earthquakes?

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Earthquakes are the result of a sudden release of tension along fractures in the earth’s crust. The greater the rupture surface underground and the more this surface shifts, the stronger the earthquake is. The seismic waves triggered by a rupture of this kind spread out at a speed of approximately 3 to 5 km/s. Here are a few dimension comparisons for selected example earthquakes of different magnitudes

Every earthquake has a specific rupture surface As the strength of the earthquake increases, so does the rupture surface and the duration of shaking. The rupture surface of the largest earthquake ever recorded was 160,000 square kilometers. The shift was roughly equivalent to the size of the ETH dome in Zürich and the tremors lasted for around 4 minutes.