Logarithmic scales are hard

2015-04-30 00:00:00 +0000

Logarithmic scales are hard (yes, I know what you’re thinking…). For most people, the idea that 4 is twice as big as 2 is intuitive, because we’re conditioned to think on a linear scale. With the recent horrible earthquake in Nepal, log scales are again in the news.

Quartz did a phenomenal vizualization explaining why a magnitude 4 earthquake is 1000 times as powerful as a magnitude 2 earthquake, and why the earthquake in Nepal was so devastating.

To see just how powerful the Nepal quake was (and to learn a thing or two about non-linear scales), head on over to Quartz and read Was the Nepal earthquake twice as big as we thought?.

For more on logarithmic scales, check out this Khan Academy tutorial.