By what approximate factor is the intensity of an earthquake with magnitude 5 point 4 greater than an earthquake with magnitude 5 point 3 ? cap m is equal to the log of open paren the fraction with numerator l and denominator l sub 0 close paren cap m is equal to the magnitude of an earthquake cap i is equal to the intensity of an earthquake cap i sub 0 is equal to the smallest seismic activity that can be measured, which is 1
The magnitudes differ by 5.4 − 5.3 = 0.1. Since magnitude is the base-10 logarithm of intensity relative to the same reference intensity, the intensity ratio is 10^0.1 ≈ 1.26. So the magnitude-5.4 earthquake is about 1.26 times as intense, which is choice D.
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