U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 26

WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

MONDAY, APRIL 26: RICHTER SCALE

Profile America — Monday, April 26th.  When most of us heard of the powerful earthquake in Chile, the first thought of many of us was how did it rank on the Richter scale?  The scale is named for Charles Francis Richter, who was born on this date in 1900 near Hamilton, Ohio.  He developed the scale to express the power of earthquakes.  It increases exponentially by the power of 10 - so, a 4.5 reading is 10 times as powerful as 3.5.  The Alaskan earthquake of March 1964, at 9.2, is the most powerful tremor ever recorded in the U.S.  Studying the forces that cause earthquakes is among the more than $5.5 billion of research in the physical sciences funded by the federal government each year.  You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources:  Chase's Calendar of Events 2010, p. 243

www.earthquake.usgs.gov

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 778

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the "Newsroom" button).  

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau