She was born in Clovis , California and received bachelor 's ( 1971 ) and master 's ( 1973 ) degrees and a PhD ( 1976 ) in geophysics from the University of California , Berkeley . McNally worked at the California Institute of Technology with Charles Francis Richter , creator of the Richter magnitude scale , and became part of the faculty at the University of California , Santa Cruz in 1981 . She was director of the Richter Seismological Laboratory there and their instruments were able to capture high-quality recordings of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . She founded the Institute of Tectonics and helped establish a seismology research program at the University
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
Karen Cook McNally