Earthquake Seismograph Station

Donation of $25,000 by four geophysical exploration companies toward establishment of an earthquake seismograph station at The Rice Institute, Houston, Texas, was announced in June. The gift was made by General Geophysical Co., Independent Exploration Co., Robert H. Ray Co., and Seismic Explorations, Inc., all of Houston. According to information from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, these consulting geophysical companies, although engaged primarily in the application of seismology to the search for oil, have shown great interest in the basic earth sciences and feel that the establishment of such a station at Rice will be of great value in fundamental research and will contribute to the solution of geophysical problems. The money will be used to provide the equipment for a seismological station for the continous recording of the movement of the earth and earthquakes anywhere in the world. It will be the first such station to be established in the Houston area, and in cooperation with other stations such as those at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and at Saint Louis University will make possible the directional plotting of earth waves. The Rice Institute will thus become a part of the great scientific network which serves to gather information for peoples all over the world on the incidence, direction, and violence of earth tremors and quakes.