A different kind of Rock-n- Roll

FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2021-79 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (April 26, 2021) – In Issue 2021-79 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, we meet the man who took a measure of the quaking earth.

All Shook Up

The title is not referencing Elvis’s song, rather a man who dealt with movements of the earth’s layers.

He was born in 1900 on this day in Overpeck, Ohio, northeast of Hamilton.  His family moved to southern California when he was still a child.

During his work towards a PhD in physics he became fascinated with seismology which subsequently became a lifelong passion for him.

He published his seminal paper in 1935 on the Magnitude Scale used to this day to classify earthquakes.  On this logarithmic scale an earthquake under 5.0 Magnitude is rather light with minimal to no damage.  The strongest earthquake recorded is the Valdivia earthquake in Chile in 1960 topping the scale at 9.5.

We are referencing the Richter Scale, of course, named after Charles Francis Richter.

Happy Richter Scale Day – named in honor of his birthday. Here is a map of his home state – OHIO! 

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.