The intensity is a number (written as a Roman numeral) describing the severity of an earthquake in terms of its effects on the earth&s surface and on humans and their structures. Several scales exist, but the ones most commonly used in the United States are the Modified Mercalli scale and the Rossi-Forel scale. There are many intensities for an earthquake, depending on where you are, unlike the magnitude, which is one number for each earthquake.

Interplate pertains to processes between the earth's crustal plates.

Interplate coupling is the ability of a fault between two plates to lock and accumulate stress. Strong interplate coupling means that the fault is locked and capable of accumulating stress, whereas weak coupling means that the fault is unlocked or only capable of accumulating low stress.

Intraplate pertains to processes within the plates.

An isoseismal (line) is a contour or line on a map bounding points of equal intensity for a particular earthquake.