Earthquake magnitude was invented so seismologists could stop arguing

Before 1935, seismologists described earthquakes only in vague terms like 'strong' or 'violent.' Charles Richter, working with Beno Gutenberg, devised a logarithmic scale from a single instrument's readings so any two quakes could be compared with one number — each whole step up releases roughly 32 times more energy.

— Charles F. Richter, Richter magnitude scale — Caltech, 1935