The Richter scale is one way of converting seismographic readings into numbers that provide an easy reference for measuring the magnitude M of an earthquake. All earthquakes are compared to a zero-level earthquake whose seismographic reading measures 0.001 millimeter at a distance of 100 kilometers from the epicenter. An earthquake whose seismographic reading measures x millimeters has magnitude M given by M(x)=log(x/10^-3) where 10−3 is the reading of a zero-level earthquake 100 kilometers from its epicenter. If an earthquake resulted in a seismographic reading of 34,242 millimeters 100 kilometers from its epicenter, what was the magnitude of the earthquake?
The magnitude of the earthquake was