Earthquake key terms

Richter scale: measures how strong (intense) an earthquake is. The scale goes from 1 to 10 but is logarithmic, meaning that every increase on this scale actually releases x10 the amount of energy (e.g. an earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale is barely felt, whereas a 6 is enough to damage buildings near the epicentre).
Focus: is the exact point underground where the earthquake starts. It occurs deep in the Earth’s crust where the tectonic plates move.
Epicentre: is a point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus. This is the location where the earthquake is experienced most intensely.

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