Richter Scale
A measure of the magnitude of an earthquake at its epicentre. Each point increase on the Richter scale is a 30 times increase in the magnitude.
| Magnitude | Relative amount of energy released |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 31 |
| 3 | 960 |
| 4 | 30000 |
| 5 | 920000 |
| 6 | 29000000 |
| 7 | 890000000 |
| 8 | 28000000000 |
| 9 | 850000000000 |
Introduced in 1935 by the seismologists Beno Gutenberg and Charles Francis Richter.
See also: Earthquake, Mercalli Scale, Plate Techtonics, Seismic, Seismograph.
Subjects: Noise & Vibration