1906 Valparaiso (Chile) Earthquake Archive

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Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology

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SeismoArchives

1906 Valparaiso (Chile) Earthquake Archive:
in Memory of Prof. Donald B. Scott (1913-1975)

1906 8/17 0:40 UTC, 33.00S 72.00W Mw=8.5, Valparaiso, Chile

The death toll of this great earthquake is over 3,000. Although nearly 100 years old, a collection of seismograms of this earthquake was published by International Association of Seismology. It is one of the few global collections of seismograms that were ever published.

Endowment Donor: William H. K. Lee (provided the fund to scan the seismogram collection of the 1906 Valparaiso (Chile) Earthquake published by Rudolph and Tams in 1907).
Contributors: William H. K. Lee

William H. K. Lee wishes to dedicate this earthquake archive to his undergraduate mentor, Dr. Donald B. Scott, the late professor of physics and head of the Computer Center of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. When Lee was a second-year undergraduate student, Prof. Scott offered him a staff position at the Computer Center (part-time when schoolwas in session and full-time in the summer). Lee was then able to complete his college education with theneeded financial support, and the job turned him intoa computer freak at the dawn of the computer era.

1. "Notes on the Valparaiso and Aleutian Earthquakes of August 17, 1906", by
F. Omori, Bull. Imperial Earthquake Investigation Committee (Japan), vol. I, no. 2, p. 75-113, 1907.

2. "Seismogramme des nordpazifischen und sunamerikanischen Erdbebens am 16. August 1906",
by E. Rudolph and E. Tams, published by the International Association of Seismology, Strassburg, 1907.

3. Seismograms of the 1906 Valparaiso (Chile) Earthquake:
Seismograms from the above publication were scanned at 300 dpi, 8-bit gray scale. Edited image files are presented (with quality reduction) for quick viewing from about 100 stations, but will be downloadable from the IRIS Data Center in original resolution (zip files).

4. A Biographic Note of Prof. Donald Burton Scott (1913-1975)
Donald B. Scott was born in Toronto, Canada on March 13, 1913, and was educated at the University of Toronto (B.A. physics, 1937), and McGill University (Ph.D. physics, 1940). He spent his entire professional career at the University of Alberta, Edmonton (Instructor, Physics, 1940-43; Lecturer, 1943-45; Assistant Professor, 1945-51; Associate Professor, 1951-54; Professor, 1954-71; Ombudsman, 1971-75).
Prof. Scott helped bring the first computer to the University of Alberta in 1957 and headed the Computer Center. From 1964 to1971, he was the Chair of the University's Computing Department.
His research in physics included Stark effect in zinc, cloud chamber study of beta ray sources, and measurement of ionizing radiations. He was excellent in teaching and kind to students.

(Last Updated: August 20, 2004)