1887-1906

Overview
1887-1906 | 1906 earthquake | 1906-1960 | 1960-1990 | 1990-present
References

Seismology at UC Berkeley initially grew out of astronomy. Edward S. Holden was both President of the University (1885-1888) and Director of Lick Observatory at Mt. Hamilton (1888-1897). He considered it essential "to keep a register of all earthquake shocks in order to be able to control the positions of the astronomical instruments". Both Lick Observatory and the Student's Observatory (originally located just to the West of McCone Hall and demolished in 1972) were outfitted with two Ewing and one Gray-Milne seismographs. The first reported record is a local earthquake on April 24, 1887.

President Holden apparently became interested in earthquakes for their own sake, as he published a catalog of Pacific Coast Earthquakes that was later incorporated into the Townley-Allen earthquake catalog. President Holden also identified the importance of having a coordinated group of stations for the study of earthquakes and wave propagation. He established collaborations with eight other sites (including Chabot Observatory and Mills College in Oakland) for a total of ten stations in his "California System". All stations initiated operation in 1888, using copies of the Ewing Duplex Pendulum constructed in San Francisco.

Records from the participating stations were sent to Lick Observatory, where they were studied. Of the original 10 stations, 8 regularly contributed records over the next ten years. When Holden retired from the Directorship of Lick Observatory in 1897, however, the system gradually began to disintegrate.

Overview
1887-1906 | 1906 earthquake | 1906-1960 | 1960-1990 | 1990-present
References

Berkeley Seismological Lab
215 McCone Hall, UC Berkeley
Berkeley CA 94720-4760
www@seismo.berkeley.edu