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Feature Article
SeismoArchives
Seismogram Archives of Significant Earthquakes of the World
by W. H. K. Lee (USGS, Retired) and Tim Knight (IRIS DMC)
"... old seismograms, if properly interpreted,
provide invaluable information on earthquakes in the past, and every
effort should be made to save them, regardless of their quality, from
possible loss and to make copies in an easily readable form." Hiroo
Kanamori (1988). |
Background
The SeismoArchives are being constructed under the auspices of the Committee for the SeismoArchives Project of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's (IASPEI), in collaboration with the Data Management Center (DMC) of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).
The main purpose of these online SeismoArchives is to preserve seismograms and related materials of significant earthquakes of the World in computer data files so that they are readily accessible online as source materials for research. In constructing an earthquake archive, we attempt to host relevant data and information of that earthquake in one Website.
Because no funding is yet available for constructing these SeismoArchives, we depend on volunteers and donors of data files and/or financial support for scanning analog seismograms that dated back to 1882. Although the IRIS DMC has been managing modern digital seismogram data since the 1980s, the bulk of the seismograms recorded by seismic observatories and networks for over 100 years are in analog form on either papers or microfilms.
Seismogram from the
1964 Alaska Earthquake
These analog seismograms (about 50 million worldwide) have been disappearing at an alarming rate. We are now concentrating on archiving a tiny fraction of the seismograms recorded by the Worldwide Standardized Seismograph Network (WWSSN) in the 1960s and 1970s (about 5 million seismograms on 70mm film chips), and by the Historical Seismogram Filming Project in the 1980s (about 0.5 million seismograms on microfilms for earthquakes prior to 1963).
SeismoArchives Website
The SeismoArhives project is hosted on the IRIS Web site at http://www.iris.edu/seismo/
The SeismoArchives custom Web interface developed at the IRIS DMC.
SeismoArchives are grouped into 2 major types: by individual earthquakes, and by special projects. Background information, including software (now in planning), is also included. To view the online archive, please click one of the following items.
I. Archives by Individual Earthquakes
II. Archives by Special Projects
SeismoArchives Search
A custom Google search tool is integrated into the archive. Try conducting a SeismoArchives search for "Chile" or "Alaska".
Future Plans
The USGS WWFC Pilot Scanning Project, containing approximately 30,000 scanned seismograms, will be integrated into the SeismoArchives with a web interface and search tool. This special project includes WWSSN seismograms of 156 nuclear events and 78 earthquakes from the 1960s and 1970s.
Over one hundred significant earthquakes and related materials, as well as software to aid using the computer files, will be available on the SeismoArchives Website in the future.
Contributors and Volunteers Are Needed
We welcome contributors of seismograms, data files, software, and relevant information of significant earthquakes of the world. Volunteers are needed to serve as “Archivists” for earthquake archives. Please contact Willie Lee at: <lee@usgs.gov> (office), or <whklee@ix.netcom.com> (home).
Explore
the SeismoArchives Website
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The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology is a consortium of over 150 research institutions with major commitments to research in seismology and related fields. IRIS operates a facilities program in observational seismology and data management sponsored by the National Science Foundation through its Division of Earth Sciences. |  |