Richter Scale Day
April 26 is the birthday of Charles Richter who invented the Richter Scale
For those not familiar with the Richter Scale, it compares the size of earthquakes. For those who live in earthquake areas, it is a very familiar term and after every earthquake, we all wait to see what the magnitude of the earthquake was.
Charles Richter (April 26, 1900 - September 30, 1985) spent his entire career at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as a seismologist. Along with Beno Gutenberg, the Richter Scale was invented in 1935. Richter gets the credit but all reports say they created it together.
Science Stuff
I can guess pretty accurately the magnitude of an earthquake that I feel because I have lots of experience. However, the designers of the Richter Scale knew their math and I don't which makes me trying to explain the formula almost impossible. Here is where you can go to find the actual formula and a lot more information on the process.
- Richter Scale Information and Formula
The original formula is: M_\mathrm{L} = \log_{10} A - \log_{10} A_\mathrm{0}(\delta) = \log_{10} [A / A_\mathrm{0}(\delta)],
I may not get the math but I do know the magnitude as it applies to me.
Richter Scale Origin
How things work: How does the Richter Scale work?
Bill Nye the Science Guy - Earthquakes
Supply kit that is easy to store
More on California earthquakes
- Earthquake Disaster Movies
What could be more fun? My ideal Saturday would be watching earthquake disaster movies with a large bowl of popcorn. - California Earthquakes
Earthquakes are a unique experience. We go about our daily business until the ground moves under our feet and we are reminded how small we really are.
Richter Scale Day : Word Search Worksheets Builder
Clicking on the link below will take you to the Soft Schools site that has a word search for the Richter Scale. It introduces children to vocabulary words that are earthquake and Richter Scale related.
RICHTER
SEISMOGRAM
SEISMOGRAPH
SEISMOLOGIST
AMPLITUDE
CHARLES
EARTHQUAKE
ENERGY
LOGARITHMIC
MAGNITUDE
OSCILLATION
VIBRATION
- Richter Scale Day : Word Search Worksheets Builder
Fun way to learn new words
The debate rages on
While I would never live in tornado alley, those who live there say they wouldn't live here with the chance of earthquakes. I find this fascinating so I am curious to see how this really turns out. We all know there are no safe areas. There are tornado's, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Even those who don't deal with those have other issues like blizzards. This is San Francisco in 1906.
Where would you prefer to live?
Seismograph Machine
Every time there is an earthquake be it small or large, the first thing our local news shows is their Seismograph. It is so familiar that we scarcely look at it anymore but as children it was fascinating. The Griffith Park Observatory had one when I was small too and we would jump on the floor to make it move.
ttp://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=3729c3ce-756a-4395-89ef-1e7749f1dd3f
Real-time Seismogram Displays
USGS is my favorite website when it comes to anything earthquake. As I mentioned before, it is bookmarked for instant access. Today, the drum-type seismographs has been replaced by more modern technology, but the concept is the same.
- Real life seismograph
This is part of the USGS website but a specific link to the seismograph display. - The USGS Website
This is a great site for those who want to know more about earthquakes and other geographical features.
