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Thousands of rescue workers from around the globe are on the way to provide whatever relief they can to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. At least two hospitals were destroyed. Heavy snow and rain have moved into the region since the quakes occurred.

Your viewers, listeners and readers will want to know how they can help, and the answer is “money.” As good as it feels to send blankets and medical supplies, big rescue agencies can buy those supplies in massive bulk at a much lower price than you can buy and ship much of anything.

The International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation has an office near the quake’s epicenter. The group says the earthquake “affected an area of around 400 km around including the big industrial cities of Turkey Gaziantep, Adana, and the surrounding cities of Hatay, Malatya, Kilis, Diyarbakir Adiyaman where around 12 million people including around 2 million Syrian refugees live.”

Doctors Without Borders is, as usual, one of the first responders, partly because it is already in Turkey attending to the needs of the millions of Syrian refugees already living in camps there. The Syrian Medical Society is also providing medical care.

UNICEF says its primary focus now is to supply water.

The White Helmets are quite well known for their heroic work in Syria helping war victims.

Global Giving is a group that connects givers with nonprofits around the world. The group says it has funneled more than $800 million to global efforts in the last 21 years. It is currently setting up funding for Syria.

Save the Children says it is up and running relief operations in Syria and Turkey.

The American Red Cross points to the work of some international efforts:

Turkish Red Crescent teams are providing meals to support the needs of those impacted and first responders. Psychosocial support teams are supporting families and working to minimize the psychological impact of the disaster on vulnerable groups within the region.

Teams have sent blood and plasma to impacted areas and are standing by to address additional medical needs.

Syrian Red Crescent teams have been responding since the early hours of the morning. Teams are on the ground providing life-saving first aid and assisting with emergency medical evacuations.

Why was the Turkey-Syria quake so devastating?

The earthquake this week is a so-called strike-slip movement, in which tectonic plates slide past each other. Central Turkey has a fault zone where three tectonic plates come together. These plates, which are many miles thick, are constantly moving.

What happened to the Richter scale?

Those of a certain age (me) have lived through the passage of three quake measurement eras: the Richter scale (also known as the local magnitude scale, still useful in describing mild quakes), the Mercalli scale and now the “moment magnitude scale,” which is most useful in measuring strong quakes. There were lots of others but those are the major ones.

Let me show you in a graphic why the Richter and Mercalli scales didn’t quite mesh.

(Pacific Northwest Seismic Network)

The numbers didn’t line up with each other. The Richter measurement focused on magnitude while Mercalli was focused on intensity. Earthquake intensity measures how strongly the earthquake impacts a specific location. An earthquake’s magnitude is an objective measurement of the energy (movement) radiated by an earthquake. They are different measurements.

The old Richter scale is outdated and, as The Conversation explains:

Modern seismologists use the moment magnitude scale, which represents the amount of energy released by an earthquake.

This scale is non-linear: each step up represents 32 times more energy released. That means a magnitude 7.8 actually releases around 6,000 times more energy than the more moderate magnitude 5 earthquakes that might usually happen in the region.

U.S. Geological Services gives us a deeper understanding:

Earthquake size, as measured by the Richter Scale is a well-known, but not well understood, concept. The idea of a logarithmic earthquake magnitude scale was first developed by Charles Richter in the 1930’s for measuring the size of earthquakes occurring in southern California using relatively high-frequency data from nearby seismograph stations. This magnitude scale was referred to as ML, with the L standing for local. This is what was to eventually become known as the Richter magnitude.

As more seismograph stations were installed around the world, it became apparent that the method developed by Richter was strictly valid only for certain frequency and distance ranges. In order to take advantage of the growing number of globally distributed seismograph stations, new magnitude scales that are an extension of Richter’s original idea were developed. These include body wave magnitude (Mb) and surface wave magnitude (Ms). Each is valid for a particular frequency range and type of seismic signal. In its range of validity, each is equivalent to the Richter magnitude.

Because of the limitations of all three magnitude scales (ML, Mb, and Ms), a new more uniformly applicable extension of the magnitude scale, known as moment magnitude, or Mw, was developed. In particular, for very large earthquakes, moment magnitude gives the most reliable estimate of earthquake size.

Much of the U.S. is in a quake zone

(USGS)

Federal emergency planners say, “Consider obtaining an earthquake insurance policy. A standard homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover earthquake damage.”

Here is a collection of the strongest quakes on record:

• United States: Magnitude 8+, Magnitude 7+
• World: Top 20 Largest, Magnitude 8+, Magnitude 7+
• By Year, World: Magnitude 8+, Magnitude 7+, Magnitude 6+, Significant Earthquakes

Could there be a super quake bigger than a 10?

Because of climate change, some people argue that we should have a hurricane scale that goes above Category 5, which is the top of the scale. Similarly, the question arises whether there could ever be an earthquake that deserves a number above the top of the “10” on the current scale.

There have been five recorded 9+ magnitude quakes:

(USGS)

The USGS says that “giant quake” notion plays well in disaster movies but isn’t plausible in real life:

The idea of a “Mega-Quake” – an earthquake of magnitude 10 or larger – while theoretically possible—is very highly unlikely. Earthquake magnitude is based in part on the length of faults — the longer the fault, the larger the earthquake. The simple truth is that there are no known faults capable of generating a magnitude 10 or larger “mega-quake.” The San Andreas fault is not long and deep enough to have a magnitude 9 or larger earthquake as depicted in the movie. The largest historical earthquake on the northern San Andreas was the 1906 magnitude 7.9 earthquake. In 1857 the Fort Tejon earthquake occurred on the southern San Andreas fault; it is believed to have had a magnitude of about 7.9 as well. Computer models show that the San Andreas fault is capable of producing earthquakes up to about magnitude 8.3, but anything larger is extremely unlikely. Shaking from even the largest possible San Andreas fault events will not be felt on the east coast.

So many disasters at once

If it seems like there are a lot of disasters all happening at once, it is not your imagination. Then again, it is not unusual.

Once in a while I peruse the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System and am amazed by how many things are unfolding at the same time. With simultaneous quakes, typhoons, wildfires, droughts and floods around the world, it’s no wonder the relief agencies are always pleading for donations. This is a disaster map from the last four days.

(Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System)