1995 Kobe Earthquake Answer

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Shindo is the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale. Shindo (震度) literally means "degree of shaking".

Magnitude is the size of the earthquake. Shindo is how much shaking that earthquake caused.

For example, Magnitude does not take into account how deep under the earth the earthquake occured. An earthquake deep under the earth is not felt as much as one close to the surface.

Shindo measures the actually shaking felt at ground level and is therefore a much more practical meassure. It is similar to magnitude in that each additional shindo is about 10x stronger then the last. Here is my rough translation:

shindo 2 and 3 - noticable earthquake

shindo 4 - small things may fall down

shindo 5 - some damage to building will occur people could die

shindo 6 - major earthquake with significant damage and some loss of life

shindo 7 - catastrophic earthquake that will destroy a city and kill a large percentage of residents.

shindo 8 - I don't believe this has ever occured.