Magnitude and Energy of Earthquakes

This paper is in continuation of previous investigations (Gutenberg and Richter, Paper I, 1942; Paper II, 1956). The earthquake magnitude has statistical and other uses independent of the relation between magnitude and energy. Indeed, it is possible that there is no complete one-to-one correlation between magnitude and energy for large and complex tectonic events. Even so, a mean or representative relation is a legitimate object of inquiry.