Earthquake magnitudes measure the energy released during an earthquake. The most commonly used scale is the Richter scale, which assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake based on seismic wave data. Each whole number increase on this scale represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude and approximately 31.6 times more energy release. Another scale, the Moment Magnitude scale, is often used for larger earthquakes. It considers the area of the fault that slipped, the amount of slip, and the rigidity of the rocks involved. This scale provides a more accurate measure for significant seismic events, especially those occurring deep underground.