Richter scale

Rich·ter scale  (rktr)

n.

A logarithmic scale used to express the total amount of energy released by an earthquake. Although the scale has no upper limit, values are typically between 1 and 9, and each increase of 1 represents a 32-fold increase in released energy.

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[After Charles Francis Richter (1900-1985), American seismologist.]

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Richter scale

Noun

a scale for expressing the intensity of an earthquake, ranging from 0 to over 8 [after Charles Richter, seismologist]

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Richter scale  (rktr)

A logarithmic scale used to rate the strength or total energy of earthquakes. The scale has no upper limit but usually ranges from 1 to 9. Because it is logarithmic, an earthquake rated as 5 is ten times as powerful as one rated as 4. An earthquake with a magnitude of 1 is detectable only by seismographs; one with a magnitude of 7 is a major earthquake. The Richter scale is named after the American seismologist Charles Francis Richter (1900-1985). See Note at earthquake.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Richter scale - a logarithmic scale of 1 to 10 formerly used to express the magnitude of an earthquake on the basis of the size of seismograph oscillations geology - a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks graduated table, ordered series, scale, scale of measurement - an ordered reference standard; "judging on a scale of 1 to 10"