The EMSC

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) is an international, non-governmental, non-profit association devoted to the rapid collection and dissemination of earthquake information and the promotion of seismological research. For more detailed information: History and activities of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (2024)

Initiated in 1975 upon the recommendation of the European Seismological Commission (ESC), then chaired by Stephan Müller, the EMSC started operating at the Institut de physique du globe de Strasbourg (IPGS) in 1976. Submitted in 1982, the EMSC official statutes were finally established in 1983. Ever since, the EMSC has operated a system for rapid collection, determination, and dissemination of earthquake parameters using seismic data contributed by seismological institutes around the world together with crowdsourced data from earthquake eyewitnesses.

Head of EMSC at IPGS Elie Peterschmitt 1975-1981 Jean Bonnin 1981-1982

EMSC President Heikki Korhonen 1983-1988 Helmut Aichele 1989-1991 Christian Weber 1992-1994 Chris Browitt 1995-2014 Florian Haslinger 2015-2023 Päivi Mäntyniemi 2024-

EMSC Secretary General Jean Bonnin 1983-1991 Rami Hofstetter 1992-1993 Bruno Feignier 1994-1997 Florence Rivière 1998-2001 Rémy Bossu 2002-

Today, the EMSC is the European infrastructure for seismological parameters and products in EPOS and member of the EPOS Seismology Consortium. It rests on several actors, each contributing to the functioning of such a European seismological data base and to the scientific cooperation among the European and Mediterranean countries in the field of earthquake research.

Download the EMSC Statutes (PDF) and Internal Rules (PDF).

EMSC membership

EMSC is open for membership to all seismological institutes, with an eye to the organisations from the Euro-Med region. Members provide seismological data on recent earthquakes for aggregation and further dissemination (active members), or otherwise contribute to and collaborate with the EMSC for in kind support and to foster its activities (key nodal members and members by right).

Key nodal members Provide in kind support to the EMSC activities. Specifically: the LDG hosts the EMSC; the IGN provides a back-up website for members only; the INGV-Milan provides the catalog of European historical seismicity; the GFZ provides rapid information on global earthquakes; the INGV-Rome provides expertise on earthquake location.

Members by right Co-operate and process data necessary for the operations of the EMSC and make them available to other international, regional or national data centers. Specifically: the ESC fostered the foundation of the EMSC; the ISC operates the data archiving of seismic parameters; the USGS collects, analyzes, and provides seismic data and disseminates rapid seismic information; ORFEUS coordinates waveform seismology in the Euro-Med area.

Active members Participate on a regular basis in the EMSC activities and regularly provide the EMSC with seismic data necessary to the achievement of its objectives, including (real-time) parametric data, arrival times, and moment tensor solutions.