Historical Seismograms - Evidence from the AD 2000 Izu Islands ...

RESOURCES, ORGANIZATION, AND MICROFILMINGOF HISTORICAL SEISMOGRAMS IN CHINA1. ReviewKexin QuInstitute of Geophysics State Seismological BureauBeijing, ChinaChina, a country of high seismicity, has a long history of seismic observations.China also has abundant data on historical earthquakes. To make full use of thesedata, Chinese seismologists and historians, have compiled and edited the ChronologicalTable of Chinese Earthquakes (Academica Sinica, 1956). The editorial work ofa revised and enlarged edition of the Compilation of Historical Materials of ChineseEarthquakes (Xie and Cai, 1983) was completed in 1982. This five-volume book isa general collection of historical earthquake data in China.Instrumental data plays a main role in quantitative seismological analysis. Sincethe founding of the first seismic station in China in 1897, more than 400 seismicstations have been established. Although they have collected much data for seismicresearch, some of the data have been lost or damaged. Also, seismograms ofstrong earthquakes are frequently required simultaneously by several scientists, andit is difficult to make proper arrangements. An effective method of solving thisproblem is to microfilm the seismograms. Therefore, with the support of the CentralSeismological Group, the Institute of Geophysics in 1975 began to cooperatewith microfilm companies to manufacture the required equipment. Between 1975and 1981, various pieces of equipment were produced, including camera, processor,duplicator, microfilm projector, digitizer and others.The exchange of microfilmed seismograms which was included as a part of theSincFU.S. Seismological Cooperation Project in 1981, did much to promote thiswork. At the Regional Workshop of the IASPEI/UNESCO Working Group onHistorical Seismograms (Qu, 1982), it was decided that the Sheshan (formerly Zika-wei),Lanzhou, and Taipei stations of China were three of the 30 global stationswhose historical seismograms would be microfilmed. Because this project was supportedby the Central Seismological Group, the work progressed smoothly.2. A Brief HistoryMore than 1800 years ago, the seismoscope was used for detecting earthquakesin China. However, normal seismograms were not recorded until the later part ofthe 19th century. In 1897, a seismograph station was first set up in Taipei, TaiwanProvince, and in 1904, seismograph st ations were established in Sheshan (formerlyZi-ka-wei, Shanghai) and Dalian. The Jiufeng seismic station (set up by Prof. S.P. Lee) began operation in 1930, and the Beijige (Nanjing) seismic station beganrecording in 1932. Seismological bulletins were compiled and published separatelyby both stations. Recording at these two stations was suspended in 1937 becauseof the war with Japan. After an interruption of 10 years, recording at the Nanjingseismic station was restored.In 1954, many stations equipped with Type 51 mechanical seismographs wereestablished in the Huanghe (Yellow River) Valley and other parts of China. TheHistorical Seismogramsand Earthquakes of the World420Copyright 0 19x8 by Academic Press, Inc.All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.