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Article: Figuring Out Richter's Scale
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- January 23, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Monday's earthquake in California measured 6.6 on the Richter
scale. That sounds bad, but what does it really mean? To know that,
it helps to know first how an earthquake is measured on the Richter
scale:
1. The seismograph: There are several kinds of seismographs,
which measure ground shaking. The seismograph Charles Richter used
in 1935 was one kind, adjusted one way so he could invent his scale.
2. Measuring distance to the epicenter: Richter worked in
California, where earthquakes are shallow (less than 10 miles deep)
and close to seismographs. Shaking from these quakes will arrive at
a seismograph in a first and a second wave. The time between the two
waves will tell the distance ...