Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale
Summary
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Seismic Intensity Scale (known in Japan as the Shindo seismic scale) is a seismic intensity scale used in Japan to categorize the intensity of local ground shaking caused by earthquakes.
The JMA intensity scale should not be confused or conflated with magnitude measurements like the moment magnitude (Mw) and the earlier Richter scales, which represent how much energy an earthquake releases. Much like the Mercalli scale, the JMA scheme quantifies how much ground-surface shaking takes place at measurement sites distributed throughout an affected area. Intensities are expressed as numerical values called "seismic intensity"; the higher the value, the more intense the shaking. Values are derived from peak ground acceleration and duration of the shaking, which are themselves influenced by factors such as distance to and depth of the hypocenter (focus), local soil conditions, and nature of the geology in between, as well as the event's magnitude; every quake thus entails numerous intensities.
The data needed for calculating intensity are obtained from a network of 670 observation stations using "Model 95" strong ground motion accelerometers. The agency provides the public with real-time reports through the media and Internet giving event time, epicenter (location), magnitude, and depth followed by intensity readings at affected localities.
The Tokyo Meteorological Observatory, which in 1887 became the Central Meteorological Observatory first defined a four-increment intensity scale in 1884 with the levels faint, weak, strong, and violent. In 1898 the scale was changed to a numerical scheme, assigning earthquakes levels 0–7.
In 1908, descriptive parameters were defined for each level on the scale, and the intensities at particular locales accompanying an earthquake were assigned a level according to perceived effect on people at each observation site. This was widely used during the Meiji period and revised during the Shōwa period with the descriptions seeing an overhaul.
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.