The Richter scale measures the magnitude of earthquakes. Developed in 1935 by Charles F. Richter, it quantifies the energy released during seismic events. Each whole number increase on the scale represents a tenfold increase in amplitude and roughly 31.6 times more energy release. While the Richter scale has historical significance, it has largely been replaced by the Moment Magnitude Scale (Mw) in modern seismology, which provides a more accurate measurement across a wider range of earthquake sizes and distances.