Earthquake Archives

"… 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).


I. Introduction

The purpose of these International Digital Earthquake Archives (IDEAs) is to preserve earthquake data, specially seismograms, for future research.

For example, Hiroo Kanamori used seismograms recorded at Debilt, the Netherlands to demonstrate that the 1960 Chile and the 1964 Alaskan earthquakes are indeed "Great Earthquakes", much larger than other "great earthquakes", such as, 1952 Kamchatka and 1963 Kurile earthquakes, 1923 Kanto and 1924 Mindanao, 2001 Peru, and 2001 Peru.

Seismograms, data, and related materials of selected earthquakes are stored in archives as computer data files so that they are freely accessible via the Internet, and seismograms (in originally scanned resolution) are downloadable from the IRIS Data Management Center.

Volunteers and donors are welcome. Please contact William H.K. Lee.


II. International Digital Earthquake Archives

  1. 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Archive dedicated to Prof. A.C. Lawson and Prof. H.F. Reid
  2. 1906 Aleutian Is. Earthquake Archive in Memory of Prof. Donald B. Scott.
  3. 1906 Valparaiso (Chile) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Prof. Donald B. Scott
  4. 1909 Taipei (Taiwan) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Prof. Ta-You Wu
  5. 1920 Haiyuan, Ningxia Province, Republic of China
  6. August 14, 1939 Cuban Earthquake Archive
  7. July 29, 1943 Puerto Rico Earthquake Archive
  8. July 30, 1943 Puerto Rico Earthquake Archive
  9. August 4, 1946 Hispaniola Earthquake Archive
  10. August 8, 1946 Hispaniola Earthquake Archive
  11. October 4, 1946 Hispaniola Earthquake Archive
  12. April 21, 1948 Hispaniola Earthquake Archive
  13. June 28, 1948 Fukui (Japan) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Prof. Masayuki Kikuchi
  14. May 31, 1953 Hispaniola Earthquake Archive
  15. 1957 Daly City (California) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Mr. Manuel G. "Doc" Bonilla (in preparation)
  16. 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake Archive in Honor of Prof. Hiroo Kanamori (in preparation)
  17. 1962 Qazvin (Iran) Earthquake Archive
  18. 1963 Skopje (Macedonia) Earthquake Archive
  19. 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake Archive in Honor of Dr. George Plafker
  20. 1964 Niigata (Japan) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Prof. Keiiti Aki
  21. 1965 Rat Island (Aleutian) Earthquake Archive dedicated to Prof. William Stauder, S.J. (in preparation)
  22. 1965 Puget Sound (USA) Earthquake Archive in Honor of Prof. Robert S. Crosson
  23. 1966 Gisborne (New Zealand) Earthquake Archive
  24. 1966 Uganda-Zaire Earthquake Archive
  25. 1966 Parkfield (California) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Dr. Jerry P. Eaton
  26. 1966 Varto (Turkey) Earthquake Archive
  27. 1967 Huila (Colombia) Earthquake Archive
  28. 1967 Caracas (Venezuela) Earthquake Archive
  29. 1967 Koyna (India) Earthquake Archive
  30. 1968 Valle del Belice (Italy) Earthquake Archive
  31. 1968 Tokachi-oki (Japan) Earthquake Archive in Memory of Prof. Tokuji Utsu
  32. 1968 Inangahua (New Zealand) Earthquake Archive dedicated to Dr. Robin D. Adams
    (in preparation)
  33. 1968 San Martin (Peru) Earthquake Archive
  34. 1968 Dasht-e-Bayaz (Iran) Earthquake Archive
  35. 1969 Sardo (Ethiopia) Earthquake Archive dedicated to Prof. Pierre Gouin, S.J. (in preparation)
  36. 1970 Dagestan (Russia) Earthquake Archive
  37. 1970 Peru Earthquake Archive in Honor of Dr. Eric Robert "Bob" Engdahl (in preparation)
  38. 1970 Peru-Ecuador Earthquake Archive
  39. 1971 San Fernando (California) Earthquake Archive
  40. 1972 Managua (Nicaragua) Earthquake Archive in Honor of Mr. Robert D. Brown
    (in preparation)
  41. 1987-1988 Gulf of Alaska Earthquake Archive in Memory of Dr. John C. Lahr

Supported by volunteers and financial donors
Last updated: March 4, 2020