Similar to EMS-92 on which CSIS drew reference, seismic impacts are classified into 12 degrees of intensity, or liedu (Chinese: 烈度; pinyin: lièdù, literally "degrees of violence") in Roman numerals from I for insensible to XII for landscape reshaping.
[3] Unlike the magnitude scales that objectively estimate the released seismic energy, liedu denotes how strongly an earthquake affects a specific place.
It is determined by a combination of subjective evaluations (such as human senses and building damage) and objective kinetic measures.
Building damage are further refined with a combination of descriptive qualifiers and a numeric evaluation process.
Historic local seismic liedu is an important reference in quake proofing existing and future buildings.