User:Merovnia

User:merovnia

I noticed that the Messina earthquake was cited as 7.5 on the Richter scale. I don't think that can be right. The Richter scale didn't come into operation until 1934. But Giuseppe Mercalli, a famous priest-scientist, invented an earlier scale in 1902. This had 12 gradings of intensity which described the impact of the earthquake on people and structures. A description of the gradings is given in ParlandoSparlando in Italian. From that one might select the likeliest description. But Meralli himself would have graded it as he visited earthquake sites to interview witnesses and assemble data. This is intended only to ensure that the Richter scale is not mentioned in reference to the 1908 earthquake, since it did not exist.

www.parlandosparlando.com/view.php/id