VTSO History
In 1963, a seismic station was installed at Blacksburg under the direction of Professor C. E. Sears as part of the first world-wide network of seismic stations. In 1977 the Virginia Tech seismic network was established by Professor G.A. Bollinger. Initially, the recording was purely analog, but in 1985 digital recording was added. In 1995, a US National Seismic Network broadband, high dynamic range seismograph was installed in Blacksburg. In 1997 the Giles County network was upgraded to digital telemetry. The current network configuration is shown in the figure below.
In 1991, Virginia Tech combined with other institutions in North Carolina and Tennessee to form the Southern Appalachian Cooperative Seismic Network to coordinate earthquake monitoring and data exchange. The VTSO is also a member of the Council of the National Seismic System.