The most remarkable feature about the magnitude scale was that it worked at all and that it could be extended on a worldwide basis. It was originally envisaged as a rather rough-and-ready procedure by which we could grade earthquakes. We would have been happy if we could have assigned just three categories, large, medium, and small; the point is, we wanted to avoid personal judgments. It actually turned out to be quite a finely tuned scale.
Charles Francis RichterIf one introduces the concept of energy of an earthquake then that is a theoretically derived quantity.
Charles Francis RichterDon't wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations.
Charles Francis RichterRefining is inevitable in science when you have made measurements of a phenomenon for a long period of time.
Charles Francis RichterNothing is less predictable than the development of an active scientific field.
Charles Francis Richter