Richter scale
555 Views

GC: n

S: http://www.geo.mtu.edu/UPSeis/intensity.html (last access: 4 July 2015); http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/earthquake6.htm (last access: 4 July 2015).

N: 1. Widely used quantitative measure of the magnitude of an earthquake, devised in 1935 by American seismologist Charles F. Richter.
The Richter scale was originally devised to measure the magnitude of local earthquakes in southern California as recorded by a specific kind of seismograph. Current scientific practice has replaced the original Richter scale with other scales, including the body-wave magnitude scale and the moment magnitude scale, which have no restrictions regarding distance and type of seismograph used. Nevertheless, the Richter scale is still commonly cited in news reports of earthquake severity.
2. Richter (1935) set up a scale of magnitudes for earthquakes… The magnitude M is defined as the logarithm, to the base 10, of the amplitude in microns of the largest trace deflection that would be observed on a defined short-period seismograph, of static magnification 2800, at a distance of 100 km. from the epicenter.

S: 1. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/Richter-scale (last access: 4 July 2015). 2. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 4 July 2015).

SYN: 1. magnitude scale. 2. Richter magnitude scale.

S: 1. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 4 July 2015). 2. GDT (last access: 4 July 2015).

CR: epicenter, hypocenter, seism