Energy class based on an earthquake's seismic energy, although S. L. Solov'ev seems to have made major contributions. (In contrast to the "Richter" and other magnitude scales developed by Western seismologists, which estimate the magnitude from the amplitude of some portion of the seismic waves generated, an indirect measure of seismic energy.) However, proper estimation of E requires more sophisticated tools than were available at the time, and Bune's method was unworkable. A more practical revision was presented by T. G. Rautian in 1958 and 1960; by 1961 K-class was being used across the USSR. A key change was to estimate E
Seismic magnitude scales times. As originally defined by m was based on the maximum amplitude of waves in the first 10 seconds or more. However, the length of the period influences the magnitude obtained. Early USGS/NEIC practice was to measure on the first second (just the first few P-waves), but since 1978 they measure the first twenty seconds. The modern practice is to measure short-period scale at less than three seconds, while the broadband scale is measured at periods of up to 30 seconds. The regional mb scale – also denoted mb_Lg, mbLg, MLg (USGS), Mn, and m – was developed by for