When was the richter scale created

While the founders of this holiday are still undercover, we know this day is meant to honor the man who taught the world to measure earthquakes — American seismologist and physicist Charles Francis Richter.

Richter was born on a farm in Ohio and moved to Los Angeles with his mother when he was a teenager. He attended the University of Southern California, going on to study physics at Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology, where he attained his Ph.

While at the California Institute of Technology, Richter was deeply impressed and inspired by a paper written on shallow- and deep earthquakes by Japanese seismologist Kiyoo Wadati. Along with German-born Beno Gutenberg, Richter went on to develop the Richter scale of measurement while they were both at the California Institute of Technology.

This scale quantified the energy released during an earthquake on a scale of 0 to Each number on the scale represents an earthquake 10 times stronger than the number before it. For example, an earthquake with a magnitude of five is 10 times stronger and releases more energy than one with a magnitude of four. The Richter scale became a universal standard for the measurement of earthquakes. While other scales have been developed since then, none of them have achieved the popularity of the Richter scale.

Seismologist Harry O. Wood and astronomer John A. Anderson develop one of the first practical instruments to record seismic waves, called the Wood—Anderson Seismograph. There is no fault long enough to generate an earthquake of this magnitude and, if there was, it would extend around most of our planet. This explains why earthquakes of such a large magnitude usually cannot happen.

The Richter Scale measures earthquake strength from 0—10 and increases in powers of 10 between each number. So an earthquake registering 2 on the Richter scale is 10 times stronger than a quake registering 1. The Richter Scale worked best for earthquakes occurring in Southern California, and that too within a boundary of about miles of seismometers.

The scale was replaced in the s by the moment magnitude scale, which captures all the different seismic waves from an earthquake, giving a better idea of the shaking and possible damage. Being forewarned is being forearmed. Learn all you can about earthquakes, their repercussions, recent earthquake activities, and whether you are in an area susceptible to earthquakes. The Richter Scale has no upper limit. Recently, another scale called the moment magnitude scale has been devised for more precise study of great earthquakes.

The Richter Scale is not used to express damage. An earthquake in a densely populated area which results in many deaths and considerable damage may have the same magnitude as a shock in a remote area that does nothing more than frighten the wildlife.

Large-magnitude earthquakes that occur beneath the oceans may not even be felt by humans. How did you become interested in seismology? At Caltech, I was working on my Ph. Robert Millikan. One day he called me into his office and said that the Seismological Laboratory was looking for a physicist; this was not my line, but was I at all interested? I talked with Harry Wood who was in charge of the lab; and, as a result, I joined his staff in What were the origins of the instrumental magnitude scale?

Wood's staff, I was mainly engaged in the routine work of measuring seismograms and locating earthquakes, so that a catalog could be set up of epicenters and times of occurrence.

Incidentally, seismology owes a largely unacknowledged debt to the persistent efforts of Harry O. Wood for bringing about the seismological program in southern California. At the time, Mr. Wood was collaborating with Maxwell Alien on a historical review of earthquakes in California. We were recording on seven widely spaced stations, all with Wood-Anderson torsion seismographs. What modifications were involved in applying the scale to worldwide earthquakes?

Extending the scale to worldwide earthquakes and to recordings on other instruments was begun in in collaboration with Dr. This involved using the reported amplitudes of surface waves with periods of about 20 seconds. Incidentally, the usual designation of the magnitude scale to my name does less than justice to the great part that Dr.

But no one uses the Richter scale anymore in the media or in science. What happened? The Richter scale was abandoned because it worked best for earthquakes in southern California, and only those hitting within about miles kilometers of seismometers.

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