And the magnitude scale is logarithmic, so this quake (7.8) was over 500 times stronger than a 6.0. Death toll now up to over 20,000, and the window to find survivors is closing rapidly. Just horrific.
1 Like
I feel like few understand this. Like they would say “oh a 7.3 isn’t much worse than a 7.0”
2 Likes
Geology is like baseball…many attend, few understand.
3 Likes
The pH scale is also logarithmic, but trying to explain to someone that a wine of pH 4.0 is three times basic (alkaline) than a wine with a pH of 3.7 usually makes their eyes bleed.
Most people slept through science class, in general.
Well, as a scale used by scientists, it makes sense; as a scale to convey magnitude to the public, it’s piss poor. I have an engineering background, and while I somewhat understand the log scale, I had no internal concept that 7.8 was 500 times greater than 6.0.
Well, it’s not really intended to inform the public. Scientists talk about “magnitude”, the measured amount of energy released. The public thinks about “intensity”, which is basically how hard the ground shakes. There is a separate intensity scale, though for whatever reason it’s still most often reported as magnitude, even though most people don’t understand it and it’s not really the information they want to know. They want to know what it feels like.
And the magnitude scale is logarithmic to the base 32, not to the base 10. So a magnitude 6.0 is 32 times that of a 5.0. But a 7.0 magnitude is 32x32, or 1,024 times that of a 5.0. An 8.0 would be 32x32x32 or 32,768 times that of a 5.0. And so on.
If I could interrupt you propeller heads for a second, I experienced a pretty healthy earthquake in Panama a number of years ago. It was a 6.1 if I’m not mistaken, and the epicenter wasn’t super close to me but it was closer than most people care for. It happened in the middle of the night and it woke me up, largely because, you know, everything’s fucking shaking, and I emerged from sleep enough to realize what was happening, I waited for it to stop and when it didn’t I got up and put on some pants and was about to head downstairs and grab Daniel and go outside I guess, I hadn’t really formulated a specific course of action, but before I could reach the stairs it stopped.
The point is it went on for several minutes. We’d feel quakes pretty often, but it was usually little more than sort of feeling something and then looking up at the light over the dining room table and yep it’s swaying. But that one fairly big quake, although though it was ultimately inconsequential to me and everyone else in the area, that was enough to make me a believer. Even so, I simply cannot imagine what a 7.5 is like. I mean, seriously, it’s like contemplating infinity.
Most people may not know that the decibel scale (loudness) is also logarithmic. The perceived loudness of a sound doubles every 10dB. One time I was running audio for a week-long kids camp, and I was targeting 85-90dB while the band wanted 100-105. I was like, “Do you want to send all these children home with permanent hearing damage?” “Nah, man, it’s not that much louder.” I let the PA peak at 91dB.
I’m sorry I need you to speak up.
2 Likes
On that note, I would say that my Apple Watch told me that WS G1 started at 90 dB and peaked at 95 dB
1 Like
Bands always want to be louder than they should be and usually that’s because most monitor setups are fucking terrible.
Some bands just want to be 1 louder.
1 Like
I’m sorry I need you to speak up.
I think in general the decibel scale, and how easy it is to damage your hearing, are poorly understood. Most people I talk to think that anything below the threshold of pain (about 120dB) can’t damage your hearing. The reality is that exposure to noise is not unlike exposure to radiation: there are short- and long-term dose levels that are safe or unsafe. OSHA says you reach your maximum daily noise dose in two hours at 100dB, and every 5dB increase cuts the time in half. Really drives home how bad of an idea it is to stand next to a speaker stack at a concert.
1 Like
I have tinnitus from concerts, nightclubs and shooting WW1-era .303 calibre rifles with only those stupid little airline-style earplugs for protection (which always fell out with the recoil anyway).
My ex used to wonder why I always had music or the TV on; well, there’s no such thing as “quiet” for me. The 80s were rough, man.
3 Likes
1 Like
I feel like these neuroscientists need to watch a certain HBO series.
1 Like