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 Peterschmitt1975-1981
Jean Bonnin1981-1982
EMSC President
Heikki Korhonen1983-1988
Helmut Aichele1989-1991
Christian Weber1992-1994
Chris Browitt1995-2014
Florian Haslinger2015-2023
Päivi Mäntyniemi2024-
EMSC Secretary General
Jean Bonnin1983-1991
Rami Hofstetter1992-1993
Bruno Feignier1994-1997
Florence Rivière1998-2001
Rémy Bossu2002-

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).


Members Executive council Data contributors Staff

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.



Member TypeNameAcronymCountryCity
Key nodal members
Laboratoire de Détection et de Géophysique LDG France Arpajon
GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ Germany Berlin
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia INGV Italy Rome
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia INGV Italy Milan
Instituto Geografico Nacional IGN Spain Madrid
Members by right
Observatories and Research Facilities for EUropean Seismology ORFEUS Netherlands Utrecht
European Seismological Commission ESC Switzerland Geneve
International Seismological Centre ISC United Kingdom Thatcham
U.S. Geological Survey USGS United States Washington
Active members
Institute of Geosciences IGEO Albania Tirana
Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Geophysique CRAAG Algeria Algiers
National Survey for Seismic Protection NSSP Armenia Yerevan
GeoSphere Austria GSA Austria Vienna
Republican Seismic Survey Center of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences RSSC Azerbaijan Baku
Center of Geophysical Monitoring CGM Belarus Minsk
Royal Observatory of Belgium ORB/ROB Belgium Brussels
Republic Hydrometeorological Institute RHI Bosnia and Herzegovina Banja Luka
Federal Meteorological Institute FMI Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo
National Institute in Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography - BAS NIGGG Bulgaria Sofia
Andrija Mohorovicic Geophysical Institute and Croatian Seismological Survey AMGI & CSS Croatia Zagreb
Geological Survey Department GSD Cyprus Nicosia
Institute of Physics of the Earth, Brno IPE Czech Republic Brno
Geophysical Institute of the Academy of Sciences GFU Czech Republic Prague
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland GEUS Denmark Copenhagen
Observatoire Geophysique d'Arta CERD Djibouti Djibouti
National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics NRIAG Egypt Cairo
Institute of Seismology ISF Finland Helsinki
Bureau Central Sismologique Francais BCSF France Strasbourg
ISTerre, Institut des Sciences de la Terre ISTerre France Grenoble
Seismic Monitoring Centre of Georgia SMC Georgia Tbilisi
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources BGR Germany Berlin
Institute of Engineering Seismology and Earthquake Engineering ITSAK Greece Thessaloniki
University of Thessaloniki AUTH Greece Thessaloniki
Laboratory of Seismology, University of Patras UPSL Greece Patra
National Observatory of Athens NOA Greece Athens
HUN-REN EPSS Kövesligethy Radó Seismological Observatory BUD Hungary Budapest
Icelandic Meteorological Office IMO Iceland Reykjavík
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies DIAS Ireland Dublin
Geological Survey of Israel GSI Israel Jerusalem
National Data Center of Israel, Soreq Nuclear Research Center NDC Israel Yavne
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale OGS Italy Trieste
Jordan Seismological Observatory JSO Jordan Amman
Seismological Institute of Kosovo GSK Kosovo Pristina
Geophysics Centre at Bhannes SGB Lebanon Beirut
Libyan Center for Remote Sensing and Space Science LCRSSS Libya Tripoli
European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology ECGS Luxembourg Luxembourg
Department, University of Malta UM Malta Valletta
Academy of Sciences of Republic of Moldova ASM-CIP Moldova Chisinau
Direction de l'Environnement Monaco Monaco
Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology MSO Montenegro Podgorica
Département des Sciences de la Terre Morocco Rabat
Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique CNRST Morocco Rabat
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute KNMI Netherlands Amsterdam
Seismological Observatory SKO North Macedonia Skopje
Norwegian Seismic Array NORSAR Norway Lillestrom
University of Bergen BER Norway Bergen
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences IGPAS Poland Warsaw
Universidade de Evora Portugal Évora
Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Portugal Lisbon
Instituto de Meteorologia IMP Portugal Lisbon
National Institute for Earth Physics NIEP Romania Bucharest
Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences GSRAS Russia Moscow
Seismological Survey of Serbia SSS Serbia Belgrade
Earth Science Institute, SAS, Department of Seismology ESI SAS Slovakia Bratislava
Agencija Republike Slovenije za okolje ARSO Slovenia Ljubljana
Institut Cartografic i Geologic de Catalunya ICGC Spain Barcelona
Swedish National Seismic Network SNSN Sweden Uppsala
Schweizerischer Erdbebendienst ETH Switzerland Zurich
Institut National de la Météorologie INMT Tunisia Tunis
Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, Earthquake Department ERD Turkey Ankara
Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute KOERI Turkey Istanbul
Main Centre for Special Monitoring MCSM Ukraine Kyiv
Dubai Municipality United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi
British Geological Survey BGS United Kingdom Edinburgh
National Seismological Observatory Centre NSOC Yemen Sanaa