Macroseismology in Finland from the 1730s to the 2000s : Part 1: History of the macroseismic questionnaire

Abstract

The present article is the first part of a snapshot of macroseismology in Finland from the 1730s to the 2000s. In the 1730s, more numerous and informative earthquake reports began to appear. Continuing up until the early 1880s, these reports were often by-products of compilations of statistics and weather conditions; afterwards, felt earthquake observations were the objective of specific macroseismic surveys. During the Swedish era until 1809, earthquake reports are attributed to the developing press, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Statistical Office. In the Grand Duchy of Finland, learned societies collected data on different natural phenomena. In the Republic of Finland since 1917, the designing and use of macroseismic questionnaires shifted to the established seismological units. The designing and dissemination of macroseismic questionnaires constitute the core of macroseismic surveys in Finland. This part focuses on the design. Seven generations of printed macroseismic questionnaires are identified. The first questionnaire in 1882 was designed by a geologist. The second-generation questionnaire was produced by the Geological Commission. In the 1900s, the third-generation questionnaire was owned by the Geographical Society of Finland, the fourth by the seismological station of the University of Helsinki, the fifth by the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, the sixth by the Department of Geophysics of the University of Oulu and the seventh of the Institute of Seismology of the University of Helsinki. At the turn of the 2000s the questionnaire was placed on the Internet.