Which scale is commonly used to assess earthquake magnitude?

The Richter scale is the commonly used scale for assessing earthquake magnitude. Developed by Charles F. Richter in 1935, this logarithmic scale quantifies the amount of energy released at the source of an earthquake. It measures the amplitude of seismic waves produced by the quake, which provides a numerical indication of its strength. Each whole number increase on the Richter scale represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude and approximately 31.6 times more energy release.

While other scales are important in the context of earthquakes, they serve different purposes. For instance, the Mercalli scale measures the intensity of shaking and the damage caused by an earthquake from a human perspective, rather than the energy released. The Fujita scale assesses tornado damage, and the Beaufort scale measures wind speeds and their effects. Thus, the Richter scale stands out specifically for quantifying earthquake magnitude.