+1 magnitude ≈ ×32 energy
Magnitude is logarithmic. In the approximation used here, one additional unit means about 32 times more energy; two units mean about 1,000 times. M6 therefore does not mean twice the energy of M3.
Magnitude. See the energy difference.
Two magnitude units. About a thousand times more energy. Move the sliders and see the difference in three dimensions.
Energy, not the reach of shaking3D
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Drag to rotate. Zoom with the mouse wheel or a pinch gesture.
Compare the volumes of the whole cubes. Grid cells have no fixed energy value.
Compare the volumes of the whole cubes. Grid cells have no fixed energy value.
Energy B / energy A≈ 1,000×
M7.0: about 1,000 times as much energy as M5.0.
- Magnitude difference B − A
- +2
- Edge length B / A
- 10×
Earthquake laboratory
How much space does the difference take?
Each cube represents the energy of one selected magnitude. Compare their volumes: a larger cube holds proportionally more energy.
M4.0 → M5.0
Test your intuition
Approximately how many times more energy does M5.0 represent compared with M4.0?
Choose an answer and discover the difference.See what actually happened
Compare two earthquakes and shaking recorded at stations. Magnitude describes the event as a whole; Shindo describes shaking intensity at a particular location.
Event parameters come from reports preserved in our archive and may differ from later revisions.
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Volume represents energy
A cube with edges 10 times longer has 1,000 times the volume. For a difference of two magnitude units, its edges therefore grow tenfold. The height of the drawing alone does not show the energy ratio.
Energy does not tell you how a home will shake
Magnitude describes an earthquake’s size. Intensity describes shaking and its effects at a particular location. Distance from the source, depth and local ground conditions all influence it. A thousand times more energy does not mean a building sways a thousand times more.
How do we calculate the ratio?
EB / EA ≈ 101.5 × (MB − MA)
M_A and M_B are the selected magnitudes; E_A and E_B are their approximate seismic-wave energies. Taking a ratio removes the need for an absolute unit. Cube edges scale with the cube root of the energy ratio.
What does this laboratory show?
This educational comparison uses an approximate magnitude–energy relationship. It does not measure the energy of a specific earthquake or convert between magnitude scales. The cubes do not represent fault dimensions, the reach of shaking or an event’s duration. This module does not predict damage, assess building safety or provide earthquake early warnings.
An original JISHINDESU visualization calculated from your selected values. The laboratory requires no registration or earthquake-record downloads.
Calculation reference and further reading: USGS: comparing magnitudes and energy ↗