Coimbra

Located in Coimbra, Portugal, the seismic station COI is the oldest seismic station in Portugal and among the oldest in the world. Experimental seismic recording began in 1891 with continuous recordings beginning in 1903. The first station bulletin was published in 1910. Coimbra’s observatory maintains an over 100‐year long, well‐preserved collection of seismograms, seismographs, and bulletins.

Currently operated by the University of Coimbra.

Stations

Instrumentation

1891 Angot (3) 1901-1918 Milne (EW)
1911-1969 Wiechert (astatic, EW, NS)
1926-1979 Wiechert (vertical)
Wizine 1961 Grenet (vertical short-period)
Geotech S13, SL210 (3 short-period, 3 long-period)
Streckeisen STS-2 current

Recording Medium

ink on paper
photographic paper
smoked paper
thermal paper

In 2003, data began being recorded and stored digitally. The last helicorder data was recorded in 2006.

Data Availability

Some seismograms have been digitized and can be found through EUROSEISMOS website.

Bulletins can be found online.
not verified

See also, Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory, University of Coimbra OGAUC.

Contact

For more information about this collection, please contact: < blank >

References

Custódio, Susana, Josep Batlló, Décio Martins, Fábio Antunes, João Narciso, Sara Carvalho, Vânia Lima, Fernando C. Lopes, Paulo Ribeiro, Reinoud Sleeman, E. Ivo Alves, Celeste R. Gomes; Station COI: Dusting Off an Old Seismic Station. Seismological Research Letters 2012;; 83 (5): 863–869. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0220120014

Photo Credit: Bobo Boom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons