Richter became a full professor at the California Institute of Technology in 1952. In 1958, he published "Elementary Seismology" based on his undergraduate teaching notes. As Richter seldom published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, that is often considered his most important contribution to seismology. Richter spent 1959 and 1960 in Japan as a Fulbright scholar. Around this time in his career, he became involved in earthquake engineering through development of building codes for earthquake prone areas. The city government of Los Angeles removed many ornaments and cornices from municipal buildings in the 1960s as a result of Richter's awareness campaigns.