The famous log scale.
If you live in California you should be familiar with a famous log scale.
It is called the Richter Scale, it measures an earthquake's power.
So an earthquake with a Richter reading of  4
has a certain power. If another earthquake with a Richter reading of  5
occurs, how much more powerful is it.
Since Richter readings are in log form then a 5 is 10 times more powerful than a 4
So the difference between a 3 and a 7 magnitude is substantial.
A 7 is 10,000 more powerful than a 3.
For more information try:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/measure.php