Mercalli scale

Variant of Mercalli (intensity) scale

Mercalli (intensity) scale definition

Mercalli (intensity) scale (mer kä′lē)

a numerical scale for measuring the destructive power and major physical effects of an earthquake, ranging from number I (detectable only by seismographs) to number XII (causing extensive landslides, destruction of nearly all buildings, etc.)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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