Plate Tectonics Questions Medium
The Richter scale is a numerical scale used to measure the magnitude or strength of an earthquake. It was developed by Charles F. Richter in 1935 and is based on the amplitude of seismic waves recorded by seismographs. The scale ranges from 0 to 10, with each whole number increase representing a tenfold increase in the amplitude of the seismic waves and approximately 31.6 times more energy released. The Richter scale is logarithmic, meaning that each whole number increase corresponds to a 10-fold increase in the energy released and approximately 31.6 times more ground motion. It is widely used by scientists and engineers to quantify and compare the size and impact of earthquakes.