|Rating the Size of Earthquakes| This report describes how the
work of K. Wadati, Charles F. Richter, Harry O. Wood, and Beno
Gutenberg resulted in a way of rating earthquakes in southern
California according to an instrumental analysis of the amount
of energy they released in the form of seismic waves. This work
resulted in the first use of the term "magnitude" for describing
the amount of energy released by an earthquake, and in the
development of the now-famous Richter Scale for quantifying
earthquake magnitudes. Topics include the original definition of
Richter magnitude and a brief synopsis of how Richter used
earthquake data from southern California to graphically
represent trace amplitude and develop a table of values that
could be used to calculate magnitudes. Intended for grade
levels: Type of resource: No specific technical requirements,
just a browser required Cost / Copyright: Copyright 2002
Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of
Southern California. All rights reserved. DLESE