The history, functionality, use and advantages of the Richter Scale

Abstract
The Richter Scale is a quantitative measure of the magnitude of an earthquake. It has been invented in 1935 by Charles F. Richter and is based the amplitude measured by a seismograph with a correction factor for the distance from the centre of the earthquake from which the measurement is taken. This measurement is totally independent from the damage that it might cause. Although invented in 74 years ago, it is still in use and has many advantages compared to the other scales used for earthquakes.