what does the richter scale measure

The Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake, meaning the amount of seismic energy released at its source.

In simple terms, it tells you how large an earthquake is, not how much damage it did. It is a logarithmic scale based on the amplitude of seismic waves recorded by seismographs: each whole number increase (for example, from 4.0 to 5.0) means about 10 times stronger ground shaking and roughly 31 times more energy released.

Although modern seismology often uses updated magnitude scales, people and news outlets still commonly refer to these earthquake magnitudes as being “on the Richter scale.”

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The Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake, quantifying the seismic energy released at its source using a logarithmic scale based on seismic wave amplitude.