I have this earthquake science question that is really annoying me.
The earthquake measured magnitude 7 on the Richter scale and the following data was recorded.
There is this table with three columns: The first one has the "distance from the epicenter" (km):
1. 200km
2. 400km
3. 800km
4. 1600km
Then the second column says "earthquake amplitude" (mm):
1. 1000mm
2. 250mm
3. 62.5mm
4. 15.6mm
Then the third column says "wave height" (mm):
1. 16000mm
2. 4000mm
3. 1000mm
4. 250mm
The question is, explain using the information given above, why the height of water waves cannot be described in a direct mathematical relationship with distance from epicenter.