Only fools, liars, and charlatans predict earthquakes
Interpretation
Predicting earthquakes is often considered an unwise pursuit, reserved for those who lack integrity.
Charles Francis Richter's quote highlights the futility and dishonesty involved in attempting to predict earthquakes. It implies that only those who are unwise, deceitful, or pretentious would make such predictions, as the inherently unpredictable nature of earthquakes should be acknowledged with humility and respect.
In practice
In a discussion about the challenges of predicting natural disasters, this quote serves to remind us of the limits of our knowledge.
Magnitude may be compared to the power output in kilowatts of a [radio] broadcasting station; local intensity, on the Mercalli or similar scale, is then comparable to the signal strength noted on a receiver at a given locality. Intensity, like signal strength, will generally fall off with distance from the source; it will also depend on local conditions at the point of observation, and to some extent on the conditions along the path from source to that point.
Refining is inevitable in science when you have made measurements of a phenomenon for a long period of time.
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