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1963). Many seismograms have been lost because of two World Wars and numerous
political disturbances, and also because of poor storage conditions for preservation.
As noted by Kanamori (1988), “. . . old seismograms, if properly interpreted,
provide invaluable information on earthquakes in the past, and every effort should
be made to save them, ...” Because modern digital seismograms cover only about
the last 25 years, the analog seismograms collected during the first 100 years of
observational seismology are very valuable for seismological research, especially in
characterizing seismicity for seismic zonation, probabilistic seismic hazard analysis,
and earthquake prediction research (Lee et al. 1988).
3.1 Preservation and Distribution of Historical Seismograms
In early 1977, W.H.K. Lee and J.F. Lander prepared a report, “A plan for establish-
ing an international library of significant seismograms”, and asked the International
Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI) to consider
endorsing such a project. Lee and Lander's proposal was well received at the IASPEI
General Assembly in August, 1977. Subsequently, IASPEI passed the following
resolution:
...it is essential that seismograms of significant earthquakes be systematically collected
and preserved by making photographic copies at observatory sites, and be made available
through the World Data Centres. IASPEI urges that seismological observatories around the
world cooperate with a copying programme....
Following up on this resolution, the IASPEI Sub-Commission on Data Exchange
established a working group for copying historical seismograms with Jorgen Hjelme
as Chairman. In 1978, W.H.K. Lee obtained funding from the U.S. Geological Sur-
vey to begin the Historical Seismogram Filming Project in collaboration with the
World Data Center A. These early efforts are summarized in Meyers and Lee (1979).
3.2 Working Group on Historical Seismograms
In July 22-24, 1981, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or-
ganization (UNESCO) sponsored a meeting of experts on historical seismograms
during the IASPEI General Assembly in London, Ontario, Canada. A joint IASPEI/
UNESCO Working Group on Historical Seismograms was established with W.H.K.
Lee as its chairman. The proceedings of this meeting were summarized in a UN-
ESCO report released in September, 1981, which was included in Lee et al. 1988
(pp. 6-10).
In December 20-22, 1982, the Working Group convened a regional workshop
at the Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan. The primary pur-
poses of this Workshop were (1) to gain interest and cooperation from Asian seismo-
logical observatories, and (2) to evaluate the existing seismograms recorded by the
Asian observatories. Six technical sessions were held with over 50 participants. The
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