Charles Francis Richter
Scientist
1900-04-26 – 1985-09-30
Charles Francis Richter was an American seismologist and physicist who helped develop the Richter magnitude scale for earthquakes. His work with Beno Gutenberg provided a standardized way to compare earthquake size. Richter was a central figure in modern seismology.
Quotes by Charles Francis Richter
-
I suggested that we might compare earthquakes in terms of the measured amplitudes recorded at these stations, with an appropriate correction for distance.
Read quote -
I repeatedly have to correct this belief. In a sense, magnitude involves steps of 10 because every increase of one magnitude represents a tenfold amplification of the ground motion. But there is no 'scale of 10' in the sense of an upper limit.
Read quote -
My amateur interest in astronomy brought out the term 'magnitude', which is used for the brightness of a star.
Read quote -
We would have been happy if we could have assigned just three categories, large, medium, and small; the point is, we wanted to avoid personal judgments. It actually turned out to be quite a finely tuned scale.
Read quote -
I usually point out that most loss of life and property has been due to the collapse of antiquated and unsafe structures, mostly of brick and other masonry.
Read quote -
Emphasis was usually put on the horizontal acceleration factor, for the simple reason that ordinary structures have a built-in safety factor for the vertical component; that is, gravity.
Read quote -
As seismologists gained more experience from earthquake records, it became obvious that the problem could not be reduced to a single peak acceleration. In fact, a full frequency of vibrations occurs.
Read quote -
There is another common misapprehension that the magnitude scale is itself some kind of instrument or apparatus. Visitors will frequently ask to 'see the scale.'
Read quote