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The Richter scale [1] (/ ˈ r ɪ k t ər /), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, [2] is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and presented in Richter's landmark 1935 paper, where he called it the "magnitude scale". [3]
A particular problem was that the M s scale (which in the 1970s was the preferred magnitude scale) saturates around M s 8.0 and therefore underestimates the energy release of "great" earthquakes [13] such as the 1960 Chilean and 1964 Alaskan earthquakes.
Even for distant earthquakes, measuring the duration of the shaking (as well as the amplitude) provides a better measure of the earthquake's total energy. Measurement of duration is incorporated in some modern scales, such as M wpd and mB c . [66] M c scales usually measure the duration or amplitude of a part of the seismic wave, the coda. [67]
A seismic wave is a mechanical wave of acoustic energy that travels through the Earth or another planetary body. It can result from an earthquake (or generally, a quake ), volcanic eruption, magma movement, a large landslide and a large man-made explosion that produces low-frequency acoustic energy.
An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes may also be referred to as quakes, tremors, or temblors. The word tremor is also used for non-earthquake seismic rumbling . In its most general sense, an earthquake is any seismic event ...
These are the most commonly found scales of earthquake magnitude. Any scale not found in this table is mostly likely one of the following: An intensity scale. See Seismic intensity scales for explanation. This template does not cover intensity scales. A regional (or "local") scale used by some particular seismic network (or country). In general ...
Professor, Earthquake Research Institute, Tokyo University, 1966–72. Professor, California Institute of Technology, 1972-05. Doctoral students. Seth Stein. Hiroo Kanamori (金森 博雄, Kanamori Hiroo, born October 17, 1936) is a Japanese-American seismologist who has made fundamental contributions to understanding the physics of earthquakes ...
Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthquakes are the planet's most powerful, with moment magnitudes ( Mw) that can exceed 9.0.