The Richter scale measures the magnitude of earthquakes. Developed in 1935 by Charles F. Richter, this logarithmic scale quantifies the amount of energy released during an earthquake, providing a numerical value that helps compare the intensity of seismic events. Each whole number increase on the scale represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude and approximately 31.6 times more energy release. Although the Richter scale has been largely replaced by the moment magnitude scale (Mw) in seismology due to its greater accuracy for large earthquakes, it remains widely recognized in popular culture.