Every year around the world 20,000, On average there are 55 earthquakes per day, but most of them are not felt because they are only small quakes. The strength of these earthquakes is measured on the Richter scale.

Because we live in an earthquake country You have known such information for years. However, things get complicated when it comes to a magnitude 20.0 earthquake.

The Richter scale ranks the amount of energy released in an earthquake in a logarithmic fashion. So what does logarithmic mean?

So this means that the amount of energy released is a 31.7-fold increase between integer values ​​on the scale. For example 2.0ML [2 büyüklüğünde] an earthquake releases about 32 times more energy than 1.0 ml. If it’s a 3.0 ml earthquake, it’s 1.0 ml. 1000 times is stronger.

The largest earthquake ever recorded measured 9.5 on the Richter scale and lasted about ten minutes.

This earthquake in Chile in 1960 killed 1655 people and Two million people became homeless. In addition, about $5 billion in damage was caused.

Covering southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeastern Australia and the Aleutian Islands immediately after the earthquake tsunamis had occurred.

You can read the details of this earthquake in our content:

Let’s get to our main question: what would it take for a magnitude 20.0 earthquake to happen?

To better understand this It is helpful to remember our basic information. As you know, most earthquakes are caused by the movements of tectonic plates. They can also be caused by events such as volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts.

These plates that form the earth’s crust, conversion limit They can push against each other in an area called When plates move in different directions, they can cause a break in the Earth’s crust, called a fault line. This is where most earthquakes take place.

Because the plates press each other firmly, friction is created and if there is sufficient friction interlock with each other They can stop slipping. But as the thrust continues, the pent-up energy and pressure will increase.

When the pressure is high enough, it overcomes the friction and causes a very strong and sudden slip. will cause. This causes the vibration we know as an earthquake. The longer the fault line, the bigger the earthquake.

So how long does it take for a fault line to create a magnitude 20.0 earthquake?

1200 kilometer long San Andreas Fault Line (USA)

To cause a magnitude 10.5 earthquake on the Richter scale, approx 80,000km you need an error length. Since the circumference of the Earth is only 40,000 km, this is highly unlikely.

Therefore, a magnitude 20.0 earthquake “caused by a fault line” does not seem possible. But don’t be overjoyed, it can also happen in another way.

In the event of a large meteorite impact, We are subject to a shock that will last longer than any earthquake we have ever experienced.

Tremor and aftershocks wouldn’t stop for hours. There would be tsunamis of unprecedented magnitude and if the meteorite fell into an ocean, the waves would reach up to the sky.

As if that wasn’t enough, other earthquakes would also be triggered and volcanic eruptions would occur. The whole earth would literally fall apart.

If the planet will not disintegrate completely to “gravitational binding energy” it depends. What is that, if you say; It is the minimum value required for a spherical and whole object to hold together under the influence of gravity, but these details are the subject of separate content.

A magnitude 20.0 earthquake overcomes the gravitational binding energy. to destroy our planet produces more than enough energy. Actually, you don’t have to worry too much, it is possible to defend against this danger by foreseeing the arrival of a large meteorite.

For example, NASA is taking important steps in this direction:

Perhaps the world is ready for such a possible danger, but we are not ready for a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, a solution must be found first. We have not forgotten: