<p>In a magnitude 5 earthquake, the ground shakes violently and it's often impossible to stay upright. This is caused by about 50-120 cm of displacement of the ground. But how much would the ground move if a magnitude 11 earthquake were to happen? This is roughly equivalent to the shaking the dinosaurs would have felt right after the asteroid hit, and I'm well aware that the Earth isn't capable of generating quakes this powerful.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-01T18:10:04.533Z
A million times as much as magnitude 5? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_magnitude_scales#"Richter"_magnitude_scale
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-08T17:23:01.217Z
Then the Earth's crust would move 500-1,200 kilometers... probably a bit of a high estimate!
Wesley Adams
<geology><geophysics><earthquakes><meteorite>
How much would the ground be displaced in a magnitude 11 earthquake?
Wesley Adams
# How much would the ground be displaced in a magnitude 11 earthquake?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-06-26)

In a magnitude 5 earthquake, the ground shakes violently and it's often impossible to stay upright. This is caused by about 50-120 cm of displacement of the ground. But how much would the ground move if a magnitude 11 earthquake were to happen? This is roughly equivalent to the shaking the dinosaurs would have felt right after the asteroid hit, and I'm well aware that the Earth isn't capable of generating quakes this powerful.

**Tags:** geology, geophysics, earthquakes, meteorite

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: A million times as much as magnitude 5? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_magnitude_scales#"Richter"_magnitude_scale  
> **username_0**: Then the Earth's crust would move 500-1,200 kilometers... probably a bit of a high estimate!  

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## 0 answers

