It may even sound scary, but mathematically, it has no limit.
In practice, the largest recorded earthquake happened in Chile, in 1960, and reached 9.5 degrees in this measurement. The quake was caused by contact between tectonic plates along 965 km of the Chilean coast, but as this friction zone could be larger, the degrees could rise indefinitely.
“We measured earthquakes a short time ago (since 1900) to establish this maximum value”, says Afonso Vasconcelos, professor of geophysics at USP. In 1998, scientists detected an earthquake on the Sun with a magnitude equivalent to 11.3 degrees. On Earth, an earthquake of these proportions would shake the ground 90 times more than the Chilean tremor.
Other scales
– (Daniel Rosini/)
1. HOLD THE WAVE
SCALE Beaufort
CREATION 1805
It measures the speed of winds on land, but it was made to help mariners. When the sea looks like a mirror, the lowest level is registered. At the maximum stage, 12, the waves are over 14 m and visibility is zero because of the foam and water spray. At level 9, which you can see in the figure, the winds are between 76 and 87km/h
2. QUIET BLACK NIGHT
SCALE de Bortle
CREATION 2001
It measures the darkness of the night and the visibility of the stars. It starts with the observers’ paradise: a very dark sky and only the natural luminosity of the atmosphere. At the last level (9), there is the big city, with few visible stars. Here, we depict level 5: even with some light, you can see the Milky Way on the horizon
3. TASTELESS, ODORLESS… AND ONLY
SCALE Forel-Ule
CREATION 1889
This serves to classify the color of the water, indicating its quality and the materials dissolved in it. The measurement is made by comparing the tested liquid with small glasses of colored water, which vary from blue to brown, passing through shades of green and yellow. Among the 21 colors used, a sea blue like this one enters on landing 6
4. GRAIN BY GRAIN
SCALE of Wentworth
CREATION 1922
There is even measurement for particle size. The table ranges from grains that measure a maximum of 4 micrometers (clay) to those that exceed a tiny 256 millimeters (boulders). Sand, for example, is at level 3, between 60 micrometers and 2 mm
5. IT’S ARMAGEDON
SCALE from Turin
CREATION 1999
Categorizes the risk of collision between an asteroid (or comet) and Earth. Very unlikely impacts are indicated by the color white. At the opposite extreme is red, only for certain disasters that would threaten the future of civilization. But rest assured: such a catastrophe only happens once every 100,000 years.
6. GONE WITH THE WIND
SCALE from Fujita
CREATION 1971
Evaluates the damage of a tornado. It goes from F0, with winds that do not exceed 117 km/h, to F5, with enough intensity to lift cars and destroy buildings. As size does not determine intensity, it is possible that an F3 tornado (like this one in the illustration) is small and powerful, even uprooting trees from the ground.
7. ABALOU BANGU
SCALE by Mercalli
CREATION 1902
Also linked to earthquakes, it quantifies the damage caused by tremors. While Richter is more scientific, this one is guided by mere observation. It ranges from an earthquake that is not even felt (level I) to total destruction (level XII). The 7-degree tremor that hit Haiti in January last year surpassed level X. In this illustration, you can see level VII
8. RADIOACTIVE HAZARD
SCALE International Nuclear Events
CREATION nineteen ninety
Defines the severity of a nuclear catastrophe, at the plant itself or during the transport or use of radiation. The first degree classifies a small contact with the atomic material. The worst level, 7, is equivalent to the Chernobyl disaster, in the former USSR, which exposed 8.4 million people to radiation in the main affected region alone, in 1986.
SOURCES UN (United Nations), NASA (American Space Agency), ESA (European Space Agency), USGS (United States Geological Survey), Department of Mining Engineering at UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), Sky magazine and Telescope