Jesuits in seismology

Abstract

Jesuits have been involved with scientific endeavors since the 16th century, although their association with seismology is more recent. What impelled Jesuit priests to also become seismologists is am matter of conjecture. Certainly the migration of missionaries to various parts of the world must have resulted in queries to their fellow Jesuits in Europe. What caused earthquakes? Could they be predicted? Were they connected with the weather? In the 19th and 20th centuries, many Jesuit geophysical stations and obervatories were established in such areas as Cuba, the Philippine Islands, China, Madagascar, Lebanon, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Spain, and Jamaica. Some of these stations are no longer in operation; most have augmented their origional euqipment with instruments of recent design.