Richterscale

Rich·ter scale (rĭkʹtər) n.

A logarithmic scale used to express the total amount of energy released by an earthquake. Although the scale has no upper limit, values are typically between 1 and 9, and each increase of 1 represents a 32-fold increase in released energy.

  [After Charles FrancisRichter (1900-1985), American seismologist.]

* * *