[meteorite-list] Japanese impact animation video

From: Lee <vegas_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Jul 8 11:14:58 2006
Message-ID: <020901c6a2a1$3e3f7ba0$2f01a8c0_at_vegasprime>

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb_at_sbcglobal.net>
To: "Francis Graham" <francisgraham_at_rocketmail.com>;
<meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2006 4:19 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Japanese impact animation video

> At the observer's location (20,000 km away), the major seismic shaking
> will arrive at approximately 4000 seconds:
> Richter Scale Magnitude: 12.8
> Mercalli Scale Intensity at a distance of 20000 km: VI. Felt by all, many
> frightened, to VII. Damage negligible in buildings of good design and
> construction; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed
> structures
> Little rocky ejecta reaches this site; fallout is dominated by condensed
> rock vapor from the projectile.

The Mercalli Scale estimator has a glitch with this large of Richter
numbers. A 12.8 magnitude quake would give a REAL Mercalli Scale rating of
XII, which is defined as:

"Total damage. Waves seen on ground. Objects thrown up into air"

No man-made structure or natural feature would be recognizable after a 12.8
magnitude quake. Mountains would be ripped apart, river courses completely
disrupted, cities turned into gravel. Picture a cityscape of playing card
structures AFTER the rug is pulled out from under it, and you get close to
the destruction left behind. The earthquake in "One Million Years B.C."
with Raquel Welch comes to mind as a mild interpretation of a 10 magnitude
quake.

Lee Cornelius
Received on Sat 08 Jul 2006 11:14:21 AM PDT