The late 19th century is the era known as the dawn of seismology: a few stations operate around the world and record waveforms on paper. Can you do real work with those data? Until now these data were considered insufficient or inaccurate. In our recent paper in The Seismic Record, we have recollected all original data, performed uncertainty analysis, and precisely calculated the seismological epicentre of the devastating earthquake that has hit the Shillong Plateau. The location confirms that the buried Oldham fault, previously suggested based on trigonometric survey data and geodetic modelling, is the source of this earthquake. The alternative scenarios, the earthquake happening on other long faults that are visible at the surface, have been ruled out. The results are likely the oldest instrumental locating of an earthquake.
Outreach summary by the Seismological Society of America
Outreach article on Temblor Earthquake News
