The Richter magnitude scale is a measure of the strength of earthquakes. It was developed by Charles F. Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 paper. The scale was later revised and renamed the local magnitude scale, denoted as ML or ML. Most seismological authorities now use other scales to report earthquake magnitudes.
About Richter magnitude scale in brief
The Richter magnitude scale is a measure of the strength of earthquakes. It was developed by Charles F. Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 paper. The scale was later revised and renamed the local magnitude scale, denoted as ML or ML . Most seismological authorities now use other scales, such as the moment magnitude scale, to report earthquake magnitudes. The Richter scale was defined in 1935 for particular circumstances and instruments; the particular circumstances refer to it being defined for Southern California. The particular instrument used would become saturated by strong earthquakes and unable to record high values. For earthquakes adequately measured by the Richter. scale, values are approximately the same measured for earthquakes now measured for Mw. 8, even for Richter values of magnitude over 8. Several scales have been described as the ‘Richter scale’, especially the Mercalli intensity scale, which classifies earthquakes by their effects on their surroundings. The energy and effects of an earthquake are not necessarily strongly correlated with a shallow earthquake in a populated area; certain types of earthquakes can be far more intense in an isolated area than a much more deep area.
The magnitude of a given earthquake can be determined by the intensity of the shaking in that area, as well as the depth of the earthquake and the amount of water in the area at the time of the quake. It can also be calculated by comparing the shaking to a logarithmic scale, where each step represents a tenfold increase of magnitude, similar to the magnitude scale used by astronomers for star brightness. In 1956, Gutenberg and Richter labelled it ‘local magnitude’ with the symbol ML’ to distinguish it from two other scales they had developed, the surface wave magnitude and body wave magnitude scales. The MMS and MMS measure the energy released by an earthquake; another scale,. classifies their effects by their effect on their environment, but not noticeable to catastrophic to catastrophic, by their classifies them as ‘less noticeable’ or ‘more intense’ than Richter’s scale. The ‘MMS’ scale was replaced in the 1970s by the moment. magnitude scale ; for earthquakes measured for magnitude over Mw 8, they are frequently reported by the press as Richter magnitudes, even when they are not.
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This page is based on the article Richter magnitude scale published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 03, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
