NANCY VIDETICH: I'm Nancy Videtich from Lincoln, Nebraska. And I haven't heard anyone mention the Richter scale anymore. Has that terminology changed when talking about earthquakes?</s>ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nancy, you're absolutely correct. The Richter scale is no longer used. The Richter scale basically measured the amount of shaking. It looked at that seismograph and measured the distance between the lines. Now they look at the amount of energy released in the earthquake and the magnitude of damage. For example, a four is moderate damage, five considerable damage; six severe damage. Seven is a major earthquake and it's widespread heavy damage. Eight is a great quake with tremendous amount of damage. Now the quake that hit the Seattle-Olympia, Washington, area was a seven. It was about a seven, which means it was 10 times greater than a six. A six is 10 times greater than a five. And you can see it caused a lot of damage.
Ask CNN: Has Terminology 'Richter Scale' Changed When Talking About Earthquakes?