William Menke, a seismologist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, explains. The Richter scale was developed in 1935 by American seismologist Charles Richter (1891-1989) as ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The familiar Richter scale (which is not a physical device but rather a mathematical formula) is ...

When a major earthquake pummeled Kobe, Japan, in 1995, more than 6,000 people were killed, many buried as their traditional wooden homes collapsed under the weight of heavy, unstable tile roofs. The ...

Ever try measuring the straight-line distance between two points on Google Maps? You had to hold some object or appendage up to the little scale, then eyeball-measure the distance on your screen. What ...