But a more active memorial to Richter lies just below the floor boards of a Butler Tech classroom.
There, Butler County high school students have constructed an earthquake seismograph that still uses the mathematical formula fellow county resident Richter revealed to the world in 1935.
Just last month the student-made device detected a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the South American nation of Ecuador, more than 2,855 miles from Butler County.
When Butler Tech junior Julio Olivarez, 17, signed up for the career school’s IT tech program, he had no idea part of his instruction would include maintaining and monitoring the ultra-sensitive seismograph on campus. He was further surprised to learn Richter was from his home county.
“It’s pretty neat what we can detect with the seismograph,” said Julio, who lives in Middletown. “The biggest finding so far was the earthquake in Ecuador.”
Richter’s role in earthquake science strikes the teen as ironic.
“There is no earthquake activity around us in Butler County, but the founder of the Richter Scale is one of us,” Olivarez said.
His reaction is not unusual, said Anne Jantzen, vice president of the Friends of Richter group, who was “thrilled” to hear that the Butler Tech students made a seismograph.
Jantzen said Richter’s supporters initiated this celebration of Richter’s life — and his considerable contribution to the study of earthquakes — five years ago.
Richter died in 1985.
The state historical marker is the group’s annual gathering site. It stands at the intersection of Busenbark and Trenton roads near Edgewood High School.
In recent years Richter’s scale was partially replaced by other methods of earthquake severity measurements but that has since reverted back because of oil and natural gas fracking techniques, which some have blamed for smaller, localized quakes.
“Now that earthquakes suspected to be caused by fracking are so much in the news, the Richter Scale is being used again,” Jantzen said.
“The Richter Scale is particularly useful in measuring low-level earthquakes, like those caused by fracking, and so it is the preferred measure of those scientist studying this relatively new seismic activity,” she said.
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