The Rossi–Forel scale was one of the first seismic scales to reflect earthquake intensities. Developed by Michele Stefano Conte de Rossi of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and François-Alphonse Forel

François-Alphonse Forel

François-Alphonse Forel was a Swiss scientist who pioneered the study of lakes, and is thus considered the founder of limnology....

 of Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 in the late 19th century, it was used for about two decades until the introduction of the Mercalli intensity scale

Mercalli intensity scale

The Mercalli intensity scale is a seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake, and is distinct from the moment magnitude M_w usually reported for an earthquake , which is a measure of the energy released...

 in 1902.

This system is still being used by some countries, including the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

The 1873 version of the Rossi–Forel scale had 10 intensity levels:

• I. Microseismic shock. Recorded by a single seismograph or by seismographs of the same model, but not by several seismographs of different kinds. The shock felt by an experienced observer.
• II. Extremely feeble shock. Recorded by several seismographs of different kinds. Felt by a small number of persons at rest.
• III. Very feeble shock. Felt by several persons at rest. Strong enough for the direction or duration to be appreciable.
• IV. Feeble shock. Felt by persons in motion. Disturbance of movable objects, doors, windows, cracking of ceilings.
• V. Shock of moderate intensity. Felt generally by everyone. Disturbance of furniture, ringing of some bells.
• VI. Fairly strong shock. General awakening of those asleep. General ringing of bells. Oscillation of chandeliers, stopping of clocks, visible agitation of trees and shrubs. Some startled persons leaving their dwellings.
• VII. Strong shock. Overthrow of movable objects, fall of plaster, ringing of church bells. General panic. No damage to buildings.
• VIII. Very strong shock. Fall of chimneys, cracks in the walls of buildings.
• IX. Extremely strong shock. Partial or total destruction of some buildings.
• X. Shock of extreme intensity. Great disaster, ruins, disturbance of the strata, fissures in the ground, rock falls from mountains.