What are some differences between the Richter and Mercalli Scales?
Major differences. Richter is a direct measurement, while the Mercalli is rather arbitrary and subject to the observer’s opinion. The Richter scale was created in 1935 by the American seismologist Charles F. Richter. It measures how much the ground shakes 60 miles from the earthquakes epicenter. Richter magnitudes increase logarithmically, meaning the energy increases 10 times for each magnitude number. Mercalli intensity is based upon a compilation of personal observations of the resulting earthquake damage, but not anything directly measured on instruments of the direct seismic event. It was invented by Italian seismologist Giuseppe Mercalli in 1902, but to be fair, that was probably the best that he could do at the time.
