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.
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