Richter Scale

Lightly raced Richter Scale will bypass the Preakness.The Derby Trial winner breezed four furlongs at Churchill Downs yesterday and afterward, trainer Patrick Byrne said he will point the colt toward the Travers Stakes this summer."

The U.S. Geological Survey Saturday reported an early-morning earthquake of 2.1 magnitude in parts of western Carroll County and eastern Frederick County. The USGS said the epicenter was about three miles from Linganore, in Frederick County, and about 11 miles from Westminster in Carroll. A spokesman at Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy said the vineyard had no awareness of the quake. According to the Richter scale, a 2.0 magnitude earthquake is large enough to be detected but generally not felt.

Like a lawyer stating his case in a pressure-packed trial, Richter Scale presented a persuasive argument yesterday that he is the swiftest horse in the country. The 6-year-old sprinter with the sore feet captured the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, blistering six furlongs in 1 minute, 7.95 seconds. That shattered the track record of 1 minute, 8 seconds, set in 1992 by Fighting Notion. It also bettered the times of past De Francis Dash winners Housebuster, Cherokee Run and Smoke Glacken.

2005 Michael & David `Earthquake' Syrah From: Lodi, Calif. Price: $28 Serve with: Roast turkey, game stew Many wines are scored on a 50- to 100-point scale. This one deserves to be measured on the Richter scale. It's a booming, full-bodied, high-alcohol red wine that fully lives up to its name. But under the big blackberry fruit, there's a wine with a supple, almost creamy texture. There are nuances of herbs, chocolate and cassis, and the finish is long and satisfying. For those with patience, the wine has the backbone to age well for many years.

Mary Jo Lohmeier heard the talk. The owners of Richter Scale, the potential star of her stable, were considering retiring the horse to stud. She told them that the decision was theirs but that the determined Richter Scale was doing better than he had ever done. The owners listened. They chose sportsmanship over almighty breeding dollars and kept the horse training. Tomorrow, Richter Scale could reward them handsomely by winning the prestigious Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.

2005 Michael & David `Earthquake' Syrah From: Lodi, Calif. Price: $28 Serve with: Roast turkey, game stew Many wines are scored on a 50- to 100-point scale. This one deserves to be measured on the Richter scale. It's a booming, full-bodied, high-alcohol red wine that fully lives up to its name. But under the big blackberry fruit, there's a wine with a supple, almost creamy texture. There are nuances of herbs, chocolate and cassis, and the finish is long and satisfying. For those with patience, the wine has the backbone to age well for many years.

The devastating earthquake near Kobe yesterday showed that the Japanese know less about earthquakes than they had thought. This is bad news for others in highly developed areas prone to earthquakes, particularly California and Italy, because the Japanese probably know more than anyone else.Measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, the Kobe quake had a known death toll yesterday of 1,800 and climbing, 1,000 missing, more than 6,000 injured and 70,000 displaced from more than 8,000 damaged or destroyed buildings.

The U.S. Geological Survey Saturday reported an early-morning earthquake of 2.1 magnitude in parts of western Carroll County and eastern Frederick County. The USGS said the epicenter was about three miles from Linganore, in Frederick County, and about 11 miles from Westminster in Carroll. A spokesman at Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy said the vineyard had no awareness of the quake. According to the Richter scale, a 2.0 magnitude earthquake is large enough to be detected but generally not felt.

The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash today at Laurel Park is a racing rarity: a Grade I sprint. Even more than the Preakness and Pimlico Special, the state's other major thoroughbred races, the De Francis Dash carries great clout in determining winners of coveted Eclipse awards honoring the year's top horses. The winner of the Dash will shine brighter in racing's firmament at year's end than the winners of the Preakness for 3-year-olds or the Pimlico Special for older horses. They will compete for attention with winners of comparable or greater races within their division.

Another minor earthquake rattled parts of Columbia early yesterday, the 12th since March 10, experts said.The earthquake was reported about 5:10 a.m. yesterday in central Columbia registering between 1.0 and 1.5 on the Richter scale, said Emery Cleaves, director of the Maryland Geological Survey. There were no reports of damage or injuries.The epicenter, or the origin of the earthquake, hasn't been determined yet.But it did occur in the same general area as the others near Routes 29 and 32, Mr. Cleaves said.

A minor earthquake was detected yesterday morning in Arbutus, but there was no damage and no reports of injuries, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a quake measuring 1.0 on the Richter scale struck about a mile west of the southwestern Baltimore County community about 8:30 a.m. The tremor, reported on the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site, was detected at a depth of about three miles on a seismograph at the Soldiers Delight Reporting...

The powerful earthquake that killed as many as 30,000 people in northern Pakistan over the weekend is the latest manifestation of a continental collision that began 55 million years ago, geologists say. That was when, it is believed, the Indian subcontinent, drifting northward on a slab of Earth's crust, first slammed into the southern flank of the Eurasian continent. Like a slow-motion car wreck, the impact has continued ever since, piling up Earth's crust at the impact zone into the highest mountain ranges on the planet, from the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Himalayas of Nepal and Tibet.

The earliest recorded earthquake in Maryland occurred in Annapolis, causing a 50-second tremor in the area. The April 24, 1758, quake was preceded by subterranean noises and could be felt in parts of Pennsylvania. There is no written record of its magnitude. The next earthquake recorded in Annapolis was in 1876, when another slight tremor shook the city. The most recent quake to shake Annapolis occurred this year on the morning of Feb. 23, when a minor tremor originated about 10 miles northeast of the city in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The quake had a magnitude of about 2 on the Richter scale.

When Waverly Person picks up the phone at the U.S. Geological Survey's earthquake hot line in Colorado, he's used to panicky voices from Los Angeles or Anchorage. Not Glen Burnie. But Anne Arundel residents were lighting up the switchboard yesterday after a series of rare earthquakes jostled eastern Maryland. "All they wanted to know is: `Are we gonna have a Big One?'" said the veteran geophysicist. Fear not. Seismologists say the "Big One" is not imminent. While as many as three quakes jostled the region yesterday, even the strongest -- a magnitude 2.0 at 9:22 a.m. -- barely tickled the state's lone seismometer.

A half-hour after Richter Scale broke the six-furlong track record yesterday at Laurel Park, a stunningly fast sprinter half Richter Scale's age matched the old record. Disco Rico won the $75,000 Montpelier Stakes for 3-year-olds, completing the six furlongs in 1 minute, 8.06 seconds. That tied Fighting Notion's record that Richter Scale had just beaten in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The New York-based jockey Richard Migliore rode Richter Scale and Disco Rico. Migliore said he believes that Richter Scale, 6, is the best older sprinter in the country.

Like a lawyer stating his case in a pressure-packed trial, Richter Scale presented a persuasive argument yesterday that he is the swiftest horse in the country. The 6-year-old sprinter with the sore feet captured the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, blistering six furlongs in 1 minute, 7.95 seconds. That shattered the track record of 1 minute, 8 seconds, set in 1992 by Fighting Notion. It also bettered the times of past De Francis Dash winners Housebuster, Cherokee Run and Smoke Glacken.

A half-hour after Richter Scale broke the six-furlong track record yesterday at Laurel Park, a stunningly fast sprinter half Richter Scale's age matched the old record. Disco Rico won the $75,000 Montpelier Stakes for 3-year-olds, completing the six furlongs in 1 minute, 8.06 seconds. That tied Fighting Notion's record that Richter Scale had just beaten in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The New York-based jockey Richard Migliore rode Richter Scale and Disco Rico. Migliore said he believes that Richter Scale, 6, is the best older sprinter in the country.

The earliest recorded earthquake in Maryland occurred in Annapolis, causing a 50-second tremor in the area. The April 24, 1758, quake was preceded by subterranean noises and could be felt in parts of Pennsylvania. There is no written record of its magnitude. The next earthquake recorded in Annapolis was in 1876, when another slight tremor shook the city. The most recent quake to shake Annapolis occurred this year on the morning of Feb. 23, when a minor tremor originated about 10 miles northeast of the city in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The quake had a magnitude of about 2 on the Richter scale.

The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash today at Laurel Park is a racing rarity: a Grade I sprint. Even more than the Preakness and Pimlico Special, the state's other major thoroughbred races, the De Francis Dash carries great clout in determining winners of coveted Eclipse awards honoring the year's top horses. The winner of the Dash will shine brighter in racing's firmament at year's end than the winners of the Preakness for 3-year-olds or the Pimlico Special for older horses. They will compete for attention with winners of comparable or greater races within their division.

Mary Jo Lohmeier heard the talk. The owners of Richter Scale, the potential star of her stable, were considering retiring the horse to stud. She told them that the decision was theirs but that the determined Richter Scale was doing better than he had ever done. The owners listened. They chose sportsmanship over almighty breeding dollars and kept the horse training. Tomorrow, Richter Scale could reward them handsomely by winning the prestigious Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.