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Article: Frog Seismograph Commemorated
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- May 15, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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A few years ago, when the board of governors of the American
Numismatic Association was meeting in San Diego, the morning break
for the session was set not by the clock but by an earth tremor. We
were advised by our executive secretary, Patty Wiley, not to worry,
"the quake is only a 5.3!"
News broadcasts that evening confirmed the magnitude, but no one
should have been surprised with Wiley's accuracy. She is a native
Californian and as good a judge of the severity of earthquakes as
anyone who lives along the state's fault lines.
There was a time, however, when earthquakes were judged not by a
Richter scale, but by which bronze frog caught the bronze ball. And
if you find this hard to ...