The document discusses two scales used to measure earthquakes: 1) The Richter scale is a scale from 0 to 10 that measures the power of an earthquake based on scientific recordings, with each increase of 1 representing a 10 times increase in power. 2) The Mercalli scale describes and compares the effects of an earthquake on a scale of I to XII by evaluating the damage done at a location. 3) Earthquakes are measured using scientific instruments like seismographs, which detect and record the movement of the ground to measure the strength and effects of an earthquake.