Letter: Forces of nature

Tuesday 14 September 1999 23:02 BST

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Sir: Dr A R J M Lloyd asks why we do not measure earthquakes "in Richters" but rather "on the Richter scale" (letter, 14 September). The answer is that the Richter scale, unlike temperature or displacement, is a logarithmic scale. So an earthquake of 5 on the Richter scale is 10 times more severe than one of 4. "Richters" implies a linear scale and would be deceptive.

EUGENIE SAMUEL

London NW8

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