Moment magnitude scale to produce a combined scale which was able to estimate the energy released by an earthquake in terms of Gutenberg's surface wave magnitude scale (). The Richter scale, as modified, was successfully applied to characterize localities. This enabled local building codes to establish standards for buildings which were earthquake resistant. However a series of quakes were poorly handled by the modified Richter scale. This series of "great earthquakes" included faults that broke along a line of up to 1000 km. Examples include the 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake and the 1960 Chilean quake, both of which broke faults approaching 1000 km.
Absolute magnitude corresponds to absolute bolometric magnitude 4.74. Placing a radiation source (e.g. star) at the standard distance of 10 parsecs, it follows that the zero point of the apparent bolometric magnitude scale corresponds to irradiance . Using the IAU 2015 scale, the nominal total solar irradiance ("solar constant") measured at 1 astronomical unit () corresponds to an apparent bolometric magnitude of the Sun of −26.832. Following Resolution B2, the relation between a star's absolute bolometric magnitude and its luminosity is no longer directly tied to the Sun's (variable) luminosity: where The new IAU absolute magnitude scale permanently disconnects the scale from