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

Data collection

EMSC collects real-time parametric data provided by its active members, which is obtained from seismological networks around the world. The collected data is automatically archived in a database, made available and displayed on the EMSC services. For more detailed information on the seismological institutes and their networks check out the list of data contributors.