Earthquakes and Seismology

Abstract

Jesuits made some early studies of earthquakes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. After the restoration they establish in their modern observatories a true global network of seismic stations. In North America they established the first continental network of stations with uniform instrumentation, the Jesuit Seismological Association. Its central station was in Saint Louis University. In Central and South America Jesuits established two important seismological centers in Bogota (Colombia) and La Paz (Bolivia). They run also seismological stations in Asia, Africa and Australia. Jesuit seismologists studied microseisms, especially Ramirez in Bogota and Gerzhi in Zikawei. Jesuits played an important role in regional and international seismological organizations.