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.
Apparent magnitude brightness of sources at ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths. An apparent magnitude is usually measured in a specific passband corresponding to some photometric system such as the UBV system. In standard astronomical notation, an apparent magnitude in the V ("visual") filter band would be denoted either as "m" or often simply as "V", as in ""m" = 15" or ""V" = 15" to describe a 15th-magnitude object. The scale used to indicate magnitude originates in the Hellenistic practice of dividing stars visible to the naked eye into six "magnitudes". The brightest stars in the night sky were said to be