Earthquake Magnitude Scales

Earthquake Magnitude Scales

Earthquakes release energy stored in the Earth's crust, causing the ground to shake. Scientists measure the strength of an earthquake using magnitude scales. There are three main ways to measure earthquake magnitude:

• Richter scale – Measures the amount of e...

In the early twentieth century, earthquakes were described based on what people experienced and the damage they caused to buildings.

In 1935, Charles Richter developed the Richter magnitude scale to measure earthquake strength. It calculates the largest jolt of energy released during an earthquake by analyzing the height of seismic waves r...