Mercalli intensity scale
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The Mercalli intensity scale (or more precisely the Modified Mercalli intensity scale) is a scale to measure the intensity of earthquakes. Unlike with the Richter scale, people do not look at the energy of an earthquake directly. Rather, they classify earthquakes by the effects they have (and the destructionthey cause). When there is little damage, the scale describes how people felt the earthquake, or how many people felt it.
Very often, non-geolgoists use this scale, because it is easier for people to describe what damage an earthquake caused, than to do calculations to get a value on the Richter scale.
Values range from I - Instrumental to XII - Catastrophic.
