The Richter scale registers the magnitude of an earthquake by determining the?

The Richter scale registers the magnitude of an earthquake by measuring the amplitude of seismic waves recorded by seismographs. Specifically, it quantifies the energy released at the earthquake's source, providing a logarithmic scale where each whole number increase represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude and approximately 31.6 times more energy release. This scale is primarily used for small to moderate earthquakes.