The scale that measures the intensity of earthquakes is the Richter scale, which quantifies the energy released during seismic activity. It assigns a single number to a seismic event, indicating its magnitude on a logarithmic scale. This means that each whole number increase on the scale represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude and approximately 31.6 times more energy release. The Moment Magnitude Scale is also widely used today for larger quakes, providing a more accurate measurement than the original Richter scale.