History of the Seismic Research Centre 3
60 years of monitoring volcanic and
earthquake activity in the English-speaking
Eastern Caribbean
Joan Latchman, LloydLynch & Stacey Edwards, Seismic Research Centre, The
University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad, Trinidad & Tobago
E-mail: j_latchman@uwiseismic.com
Summary: The history of the Seismic Research Centre of The University of the
West Indies is documented, from its origins as the Volcano Research Department in
downtown Port-of-Spain in 1953, through its move to St Augustine in 1959, as the
Seismic Research Unit, to its present status as a University Centre. The story of its
slow but steady development describes the work of the pioneering staff, and re-
cords staff changes over the years. The gradual improvements in scienfitic instru-
mentation and monitoring systems in the Eastern Caribbean is described and
notable monitoring successes with respect to seismic events are highlighted. The
Centre has contributed to international and regional scientifc research, to the pro-
duction of regional hazard maps, and to educational outreach material.
Key Words
HISTORY OF SCIENCE SEISMOLOGY EASTERN CARIBBEAN
Introduction
The countries bounding the Caribbean Basin were known to be vulnerable to devastating
earthquakes from the time of the first European settlements, with accounts of the first
such events beginning to appear early in the 16th Century. All the countries in the region
were colonies of one or other of the European colonising powers, which brought with
them not only their languages and culture, but their architecture. Within the first few de-
cades, the islands had been transformed into villages, towns and cities patterned after the
various European models, including the beautiful stone structures known there. The dev-
astation that could be wrought by the large earthquakes that sometimes occurred in the
region soon became well known.
The volcanic threat, on the other hand, was well known on the western side of the
Caribbean Basin. More slowly a similar threat on the eastern side emerged as several of
the islands experienced episodic high level seismic activity associated with volcanic
centres. Then two catastrophic eruptions took place, in Martinique and St Vincent in
1902, claiming more than 30,000 lives. It was one such episode, occurring in Nevis in
1951-1952, following a similar episode in Montserrat in the 1930’s that prompted the
4 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
recommendation by Dr Patrick Willmore that an agency for monitoring the regional
volcanic activity be established. This recommendation became the Volcano Research
Department, later renamed the Seismic Research Unit to reflect that earthquakes in
general would be investigated and then, to more accurately reflect its status within The
University of the West Indies hierarchy, ‘Unit’ was changed to ‘Centre’. From 2008 the
agency responsible for monitoring earthquake and volcanic activity in the
English-speaking Eastern Caribbean and also an integral part of the effort to establish a
tsunami warning centre became known as the Seismic Research Centre.
The SRC of today has benefitted from the input of scientists from around the World
and many of these former staff members, who helped to lay the foundation for the very
important pursuit of earthquake and volcano monitoring and understanding in the
English-speaking Eastern Caribbean, have gone on to also make important contributions
in their field internationally and have continued to promote the work of the SRC when-
ever possible.
Need for an Agency
Between 1690 and the end of World War II, the British West Indies experienced at least
eight episodes of volcanic unrest as well as several damaging and/or fatal earthquakes.
Volcanic eruptions in 1812 and 1902 in St Vincent resulted in many fatalities and the
Mount Pelée eruption, in the French island of Martinique, killed more than 29,000 people
in 1902. Mt Pelée also erupted from 1929 to 1932. In Jamaica, another British West In-
dian island, the fatally destructive force of earthquakes was experienced in 1692 (Port
Royal) and 1907 (Kingston). In the aftermath of the Martinique eruptions, the French es-
tablished the first permanent observatory at Morne Des Cadet in 1947. Seismo-volcanic
unrest on Montserrat from 1898-1902 and in the 1930’s caused significant consternation
among colonists there. The 1930’s episode attracted scientists linked to the Carnigie In-
stitution (Frank Perret) and The Royal Society (C. F. Powell and A. G. MacGregor). Dur-
ing a Royal Society expedition to Montserrat, Powell and MacGregor established a
seismograph network comprising a 3-component Wiechert seismograph and six shock
recorders. The network ran from 1938 to 1945 when the seismometer was accidentally
destroyed during attempts to ship it to St Vincent to monitor an earthquake swarm near
the volcano.
Dr Gerald Lenox-Conyngham was the senior scientist involved in the study of the
1930’s Montserrat volcanic earthquake activity and, in the following years, was knighted
and became the Head of the Department of Geodesy and Geophysics at Cambridge
University, England. Therefore, in the context of the known historical volcanic and
seismic episodes, when in the early 1950’s another series of damage-causing volcanic
earthquakes occurred, this time in St Kitts and Nevis, coming just 20 years after the
Montserrat crisis, sufficient concern was aroused to cause the Secretary of State for the
Colonies to seek scientific advice. Dr Lenox-Conyngham was the scientist consulted. A
researcher in his department, Dr Patrick Willmore was assigned to the project. Patrick
Willmore is well known in the seismological world as the designer of the Willmore seis-
mometer, and had to hurriedly design (and have constructed) simple shock recorders,
which were not ready for field deployment until 1951. By that time the activity was
History of the Seismic Research Centre 5
PLATE 1: Dr. Patrick Willmore atop the Soufriière of St Vincent
(Courtesy Prof. P.J. Willmore)
declining. As the crisis subsided, Dr Willmore (Plate 1) suggested to the Colonial Office
that monitoring during periods of crisis was insufficient to gain a proper understanding of
the cause of the activity. He was commissioned to make recommendations on the surveil-
lance of the volcanoes in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean, with the
understanding that funds were available to maintain eight seismographs in the British
volcanic islands, and locate earthquakes. Dr Geoffrey Robson (Plate 2 and in Plate 3),
who had studied under Dr Willmore, was identified as suitable for the job.
Home for the Agency
There are 11 primary islands in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean and a decision
had to be taken on where the proposed agency would be located. There was significant
reservation over its establishment in one of the volcanic islands, where volcanic activity
could compromise the sustainability of the agency during a period when its resources
would be most needed. In selecting a non-volcanic island, Trinidad and Barbados were
the final contenders. Trinidad was chosen as the site of the headquarters for the new unit,
the Volcano Research Department, because of its air communications to the other islands
and community of geologists and geophysicists in the oil fields. In 1953, it was set up as
part of the regional Research Centre at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in
Trinidad (forerunner to the St Augustine Campus of the UWI) and supported by British
Colonial Development and Welfare funds. Accommodation was first provided in the
Treasury Building on the then Marine Square (now Independence Square), Port of Spain,
Trinidad, and later in Whitehall, Queen’s Park West, by the government.
In 1959, construction of a permanent home for seismo-volcanic studies, at the
corner of Bates Trace and Gordon Street, St Augustine, began.
6 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
PLATE 2:Dr. Geoffrey Robson supervising site preparation for the Unit’s head-
quarters on Gordon Street, St Augustine. The site was an abandoned cocoa re-
search plot. (SRC Archive)
Staffing
The Unit began operations with one scientist, Dr Geoffrey Robson, on staff. Dr
Willmore, however, continued to be involved in establishing the fledgling Unit. In 1958,
the provision of additional funding allowed for the recruitment of Dr Ken Barr, who was a
seismologist with specialization in instrumentation. In 1961, he moved to Jamaica to es-
tablish the monitoring there and Mr Desmond Woo, a Trinidadian national, joined the
staff as seismologist and instrumentation specialist. The Unit then had three members of
academic staff.
Dr John F. Tomblin, a British national, was appointed to the newly created post of
geologist, in 1964, which brought the total to four members of academic staff. However,
Ken Barr then resigned and the vacant post of seismologist was filled by Dr John B. Shep-
herd, a graduate in physics, from Manchester, England, with a specialty in optics.
At the request of UNESCO, Dr Robson led a reconnaissance mission to report on
the destructive Caracas earthquake, which occurred on 29 July 1967. By 1968, the Unit
had in addition to its four members of scientific staff, 14 members of support staff
comprised of Seismology, Electronics, Workshop and Geochemistry technicians,
Draughtsman, Secretary and Clerical and Office assistants, and a Grounds man, who also
attended to the cleaning needs of the Unit (Plate 3). At this time, with the Unit
History of the Seismic Research Centre 7
PLATE 3: Staff photograph taken in 1968 at the retirement function for Dr Robson
(Courtesy Lutchman Pollard)
Academic Staff (seated, l to r): Desmond Woo, Geoff Robson, John Tomblin
Support Staff (standing l to r): Lutchman Pollard (seismology technician), Peter LeBlanc (partly hidden,
rock slide assistant), Rampersad Singh (gardener), Rosalind Mark (secretary), Anthony Providence (al-
most hidden, office assistant)), Sherma Edwards (seismology technician), Floyd Archer (workshop tech-
nician), Luis Canales (visiting from Venezuelan seismic monitoring agency FUNVISIS), Godfrey
Almorales (almost hidden, draughtsman), Ruby McDonald (typist), Desmond Seupersad (geochemistry
technician), Judy Tomblin (part-time librarian), Hensen Almorales (Chief Technician), Ronny Roach
(seismology technician).
established, functioning and delivering as originally envisioned, Dr Robson resigned to
take up a position at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Dr
Tomblin was appointed the new Head of the Unit.
In 1969, Dr Haraldur Sigurdsson, a native of Iceland, was appointed geologist to
fill the vacancy created by the departure of Dr Robson and in 1970, a fifth scientific staff
position was created. Dr William Aspinall, an atmospheric electricity physicist from the
United Kingdom with important instrumentation expertise, was appointed the second
seismologist on staff. In 1972, Dr Tomblin undertook the supervision of a Master’s
student, Mr Keith Rowley, who became the first local student to be associated with the
Unit and was in time, on completion of his degree in 1974, to assume the geologist duties
for a brief period before the position was filled, when Dr Sigurdsson resigned at the end
of 1973. In 1974, Dr Marion Michael, an Australian volcanologist joined the staff.
In 1980, Dr Tomblin resigned to take up a position at the United Nations Disaster
Relief Organisation. At that time, following the 1979 eruption of the Soufrière volcano in
St Vincent, the Unit was examining ways to improve response to volcanic crises. Dr John
B. Shepherd was appointed the new Head of the Unit. In 1981, Dr F. Dale Morgan, a
8 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
Guyanese national and a former member of staff of the UWI, Physics Department, who
had been funded to pursue a Ph.D programme in geophysics at the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology, returned to Trinidad and was appointed to the Unit’s staff, filling the
existing vacancy and, at the same time, fulfilling his obligations to the Government of
Trinidad & Tobago.
The next big staff turnover took place when Dr Aspinall resigned at the end of 1982
to return to the U.K. and Dr Morgan during 1983 to return to the United States. Those
vacancies were filled by an Instrumentation Engineer, Mr Lloyd Lynch, and two Geolo-
gists, Dr Geoff Wadge and Mr Michael Isaacs. Mr Lynch was originally based at the
Earthquake Unit in Jamaica, which had become responsible for its own operations and,
therefore, was familiar with the instrumentation in use at the Unit. Dr Wadge came to the
Unit from the U.K. and Mr Isaacs from Jamaica.
Due primarily to the economic climate, but also other factors, the Unit experienced
the most volatile phase of staffing during the period 1985-2000. There was a net overall
decline in the total number of Staff until 1990, with a marked increase in the ratio of
academic to non-academic positions. Dr Wadge, Mr Isaacs, and Dr Shepherd left in
1987, 1988 and 1989 respectively. Dr Rowley, a Tobagonian volcanologist mentioned
earlier, returned to the Unit in 1988 to fill the void left by Dr Wadge and Mr Issacs, but he
resigned in 1991 to pursue a political career. Dr William Ambeh, a University of Leeds
trained seismologist from Cameroon joined in 1990. Non-academic posts also declined
through a voluntary retrenchment programme, employee transfer and secondment. In the
latter case, one long-serving, seismic data analyst took up a two-year appointment at the
International Seismological Centre between 1988 and 1990. By 1990, the number of
Staff (both academic and technical) declined to the lowest level in several years. As
economic fortunes in the contributing territories reversed in the 1990’s, the academic
positions that had to be frozen in the mid-1980’s to early 1990’s were filled. Mr Richard
Robertson, a Vincentian Geologist, was recruited in 1993; Dr Paul Jackson, a British
Geologist and Dr Sayadul Arafin, a Bangladeshi Geophysicist, were recruited in 1996.
The latter two personnel spent only three years on staff. Dr Ambeh resigned in 1999.
It was not until early in the 2000’s that the creation of additional senior staff posi-
tions resumed. These included professional posts and served to address changes in
technology and the need to disseminate information. The current staff complement
consists of 10 senior staff members, seven of whom are scientific, plus another six based
at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, and three professional, supported by 19 tech-
nical, clerical, research assistants and housekeeping and maintenance members of staff.
As can be seen, the SRC of today (Plate 4) has benefitted from the input of scientists
from around the World and many of these former staff members, who helped to lay the
foundation for the very important pursuit of earthquake and volcano monitoring and
understanding in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean have gone on to make impor-
tant contributions in their field internationally and have continued to promote the work of
the SRC whenever possible.
The support Staff, essential to the efficient operations of the SRC, is generally
recruited locally and facilitates the SRC’s achievements. They serve to provide the
History of the Seismic Research Centre 9
Pla
PLATE 4: Staff of the Seismic Research Centre in 2012
(seated, l to r): Joenel Alexander (Groundsman), Stephen George (Electronics Technician), Yvonne
Joseph (Secretary), Lutchman Pollard (Contract Seismology Technician), Emeritus Professor Trevor
Jackson
st
(1 row standing, l to r): Monique Johnson (RA – E&O), Dr. Richard Robertson (Geologist), Nisha
Nath (Chief Seismology Technician), Farrah Madoo (Seismology Technician, Erouscilla “Pat” Jo-
seph (Volcanologist), Margaret Nero (Cleaner), Susan Neverson (Part-Time Library Assistant),
Deborah Robertson (RA – Volcanology), Amit Balchan (Seismology Technician).
nd
(2 row standing, l to r): Stacey Edwards (Education & Outreach Officer), Roderick Stewart (Vol-
cano Seismologist), Dr. Walter Salazar (Seismology Engineer), Ian Juman (Chief Electronics Techni-
cian), Nolan Ali (Senior Maintenance Assistant), Chandradath Ramsingh (IT Officer), Hannah
Ramsingh (Seismology Technician), Dr. Robert Watts (Physical Volcanologist), Garth Mannette
(Electronics Technician), Carol Liverpool (Clerical Assistant), Shaun Boodhoo (Office Attendant),
Dr. Joan Latchman (Director (Ag.)/Seismologist), Lloyd Lynch ( Instrumentation Engineer), Clevon
Ash (RA – E&O) .
continuity of institutional memory that is so essential in work of this nature. The highly
specialised and unique nature of the work of the SRC means that Technical Staff must be
carefully trained in-house and through regional and international custom workshops; the
learning curve is, of necessity, long, before the ideal level of competence is attained. The
Clerical Staff must become familiar with some of the science involved and also extend
their vocabulary to include the language of the field.
The personality trait that appears to be the common denominator of those who have
made a positive contribution in building the agency is calm, level headed, meticulous and
dedicated competence. They have had an appreciation of the importance of the institution
10 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
PLATE 5: Willmore seismograph (Courtesy Prof. P.J. Willmore)
in regional development and have sought to position the SRC to deliver at the highest
level.
Monitoring
As far as is known, John Milne was the first to attempt to monitor earthquakes in the East-
ern Caribbean. John Milne is considered the father of modern seismology and was a pio-
neer of instrumental seismology. He was an Englishman with a vision of a world-wide
seismograph network. He developed his own seismograph and established a seismologi-
cal observatory in the Isle of Wight, U.K. He installed the first seismometer in the Eastern
Caribbean in St Clair, Port of Spain, that operated until sometime during World War I
(1914-1918).
The first seismograph deployed in the new Eastern Caribbean network in the early
1950’s was the Trinidad station, and it was first installed in St Clair in the same building
used by John Milne. However, the site proved too noisy and the station was moved to
North Post Signal Station, at the head of the Diego Martin Valley, which although a quiet
site was difficult to access. A location suitable for both office and station would be the
ideal solution, but the station remained there until August 1958, at which time it was
moved to the Main Building at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture.
The network began with three seismograph stations with one located in each of the
islands of Trinidad, St Vincent and Dominica. These were Willmore seismographs (Plate
5), which were photographic recorders and were installed in dark rooms. The system
consisted of a seismometer, the instrument that senses earth movements, electronics for
conditioning the recorded signals, which were received by a galvanometer, which is an
instrument that responds to input signals, with an attached mirror. A light beam reflected
off the mirror served as the instrument for writing on the photographic paper that was
mounted on the drum. The drum rotated making a complete revolution in a little over six
History of the Seismic Research Centre 11
PLATE 6:Dome erupted in Soufrière Crater Lake, St Vincent, 1971-1972
(SRC Archive)
minutes; the galvanometer took 24 hours to translate from the left side to the right side.
At the end of that period, the record was removed and processed to reveal a day’s
recording of the ground movements at that location.
Records from St Vincent and Dominica were collected and mailed to Trinidad in
weekly or twice weekly batches. Two additional seismograph stations in Grenada and St
Lucia were soon added to the network, quickly followed by Barbados, but for several
months only two, Trinidad and St Vincent, were operational. The challenges were the
relatively primitive conditions in the West Indies, the tropical climate and the poor design
of some of the equipment components. Visits outside Trinidad were infrequent, which
hindered installation and maintenance of equipment and training of station operators. In
spite of these challenges, in 1961, the Jamaica network became operational, initially with
two seismographs. Ken Barr was stationed in Jamaica to set up and supervise the opera-
tions there.
Then, in 1962, the Americans began installation of the global World Wide Stan-
dardized Seismograph Network [WWSSN] principally as a means of surveillance of
Russian nuclear testing. However, seismology has greatly benefited by the tremendous
increase in consistent, calibrated data. One of those instruments was installed in Trinidad
co-located with the existing station, whose identifying station code was and is TRN. The
systems consisted of 3-component, short-period, and long-period instruments. Through
this WWSSN station, the Unit became more internationally recognised as it was estab-
lished as part of the global seismic monitoring network. The recordings from these
instruments, like those produced by the Willmore seismograph, were written by a light
beam on photographic paper requiring dark room facilities for processing.
12 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
In 1970, the first radio-linked seismographs (Geotech telemetry with Motorola
VHF radios) were installed at Pointe-à-Pierre and Brigand Hill, Trinidad, to give
real-time readout on pen recorders at the SRU, which could be regularly inspected during
working hours. This was the introduction of real-time monitoring, which was a most
significant development and is especially critical in the surveillance of live volcanoes.
Accuracy in the time being imprinted on earthquake records is essential in producing reli-
able earthquake locations and in an effort to improve time control, crystal-controlled
electric clocks and recorder drum motors were installed.
Dr Tomblin, with Dr David Beckles, of the Mathematics Department, St Augustine
campus, and Peter Jutsum, of the Computer Centre, developed the first computer-based
hypocentre location and bulletin printing programmes used in the Unit. Its use was
short-lived, however, as a result of the installation of new ICL 1902A computer at the
Computer Centre UWI, which necessitated a complete rewrite of the data processing
package for regional hypocentres and seismological bulletin production. Dr David
Beckles and Dr Aspinall did most of the reprogramming, with every rewrite requiring the
punching of a new batch of ‘computer cards’, which had to be taken to the Computer
Centre to be queued in the processing runs.
Staff members were deployed over several months to monitor the non-explosive
eruption of a lava dome at the Soufrière volcano, St Vincent during 1971-1972 (Plate 6)
and to investigate seismo-volcanic unrest in Dominica in 1976. These events strongly
influenced the decision to install long-range radio links to connect earthquake monitoring
instruments in the Lesser Antilles continuously with a multi-channel magnetic tape
recorder and visual displays in St Augustine. This would allow real-time capability, with
a consequent improved response time; a common time calibration system leading to
improved accuracy of earthquake locations. This technology proved its worth in the lead
up to the 13th April, 1979 Good Friday eruption of the Soufrière volcano, St Vincent,
when there was less than 12 hours of precursory seismicity, but the ability to track the
escalation in real-time allowed the Prime Minister of St Vincent to be alerted by 10:00
p.m. that evening that a volcanic crisis appeared to be developing. By dawn the next day,
the volcano was in full-scale eruption.
In 1982, with the support of Dr Robson and Dr Tomblin, the Unit received a grant
from UNDP for upgrading the St Vincent volcano monitoring system. The project also
included the funding of two students, one at the undergraduate level, for a Vincentian and
the other at the post-graduate level, for a Trinidadian. In the end, two Vincentian students
were able to take advantage of the opportunity, with one, Richard Robertson, mentioned
earlier, joining the Staff in 1993, going on to complete his Ph.D. and become the
Head/Director from 2004 to 2011.
The first in-house computer facilities, a twin set of Digital Corporation PDP 11/34
mini-computers, were provided under this grant. Dr David Beckles, undertook develop-
ment of the WURSTMACHINE, data processing and Soufrière Monitoring
System.These systems replaced the use of the main frame computing facilities, ICL
1902A, of the main campus. By 1988, the PDP 11/34 computers had become obsolete
and the Soufrière system was, therefore, upgraded to operate on personal computers.
History of the Seismic Research Centre 13
Although these systems were the backbone of data acquisition and processing for more
than a decade, the data communication system was cost ineffective. Data circuit tariffs
were almost prohibitively high and the system suffered substantial degradation in data
quality when the regional telecommunications provider upgraded their media to digital
microwave in the late 1980’s. This led to a re-design of the system. Whereas, in the orig-
inal network all data were streamed for collection centrally in Trinidad, the emergence of
dial-up and internet technology allowed for a more cost effective strategy, in which the
network was distributed into nine nodes. Data were streamed to each node, from which
the data were downloaded. In reducing cost and enhancing data quality, however, in
2000 the real-time capability for the area north of Grenada, so important in the surveil-
lance of volcanoes and earthquakes, was lost.
In 2007, a technology upgrade was initiated that involved satellite communications
and transition to a new data acquisition and processing system. Although work on the
transition to the new processing system continues, the real-time capability has been
restored.
While changes in seismic output are often precursory to significant seismic and
volcanic events and there is strong emphasis on this monitoring tool, other tools are
employed to assess the status of volcanic systems in the region. During the
volcano-seismic unrest in Montserrat in 1967, tests for ground deformation were regu-
larly made using a water tube tiltmeter (wet tilt method). Some 10 years later, in
cooperation with Drs. Fiske and L. Siebert of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
and using their equipment, a Wild N-3 optical level, a new method of measuring ground
tilt was set up in St Vincent and Montserrat to replace the water-tube tilt system used
previously in Nevis, Montserrat and St Vincent. GPS is the technology in use today.
Geochemistry is another important surveillance tool.
Research and Outreach
Understanding the geological processes at work in the Eastern Caribbean is data-driven.
Therefore, databases must be assembled. Current data are essential, but a context in
which these data exist is equally important. Therefore, one of the first significant projects
undertaken by the new Unit saw Dr Robson and Dr Willmore completing the first mea-
surements of heat flow in all the major soufrières of the British volcanic islands. The next
priority was compiling a catalogue of all known historical earthquake accounts in the re-
gion. This work led to its first major publication in a refereed journal by G.R. Robson, An
Earthquake Catalogue for the Eastern Caribbean (Robson, 1964). An updated version of
this resource is available at http://www.uwiseismic.com/General.aspx?id=16.
By 1971 the Unit had a strong scientific team well able to respond to unrest at the
Soufrière volcano, St Vincent, when on 31st October a pilot of a light aeroplane reported
that the 600' deep Soufrière Crater Lake was steaming. The Unit instituted on-the-spot
investigation and surveillance deploying four seismograph stations, one of which was
250m from the crater. Geotech-Motorola radio-linked equipment was set up at two
outstations powered by air-cell batteries.
14 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
While such episodes provide ready material for publication, the Unit sought to
expand its scope, and research moved into a new phase. In April 1972, the Lesser Antilles
Seismic Project (LASP) was conducted under the auspices of Combined Investigation
into the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CICAR). It involved the Universities of
Durham, Dublin, Leicester and Paris. An array of seismometers was set up by Drs Shep-
herd and Aspinall and technicians in St Vincent, Grenada, Barbados and Dominica. The
aim was to capture signals from depth charges fired by the Royal Navy. The data were to
be used to improve the knowledge of the crustal structure of the island arc and refine
velocity models for the earthquake location programmes.
Towards the end of May of that same year, Drs Sigurdsson and Shepherd led a
cruise on the oceanographic research vessel HMS Hecla to carry out detailed investiga-
tions on the submarine Kick-‘em-Jenny volcano. The side-scan sonar technology
employed allowed an image of the volcano to be created and information on its depth
below sea level to be ascertained. This proved a most opportune investigation, when, on
6th July, real-time recording of T-phases, which are acoustic phases from an earthquake or
volcanic eruption that travels through the ocean, signalled the eruption of the
Kick-‘em-Jenny volcano.
To further enhance the research capability of the Unit, Dr Tomblin undertook the
supervision of a Master’s student, Keith C. Rowley, whose project analysed the
pyroclastic fall deposits in St Vincent. While the Unit had supported the research efforts
of international investigators to work on various volcanoes in the region as a strategy for
building a database of eruption histories, with a view to recognising patterns of volcanic
behaviour, this move provided an opportunity to develop local expertise. In 1974, Mr
Rowley became the Unit’s first Master’s graduate. He moved onto a Ph.D. programme
that looked more deeply into the activity of the Soufrière, St Vincent and in 1978 became
the Unit’s first Ph.D. graduate. In this same vein, in 1977, one of the Research Techni-
cians, Joan Latchman, on Staff from 1972 was encouraged to pursue a B.Sc. under a
flexi-time arrangement, with a view to becoming part of the research endeavours. In
1998, she completed Masters degree, which investigated the Seismic Potential of the
South-West Tobago Fault System and a Ph.D. in 2009, on Tobago and Earthquakes.
Erouscilla Joseph completed her Ph.D. in 2008 while studying at the Unit. The topic of
her investigations was the Geochemistry of Geothermal Systems in St Lucia and Domi-
nica, Lesser Antilles: Implications for Volcanic Monitoring. Currently, the SRC has
three Research Assistants undertaking postgraduate work.
The Unit has been there to anticipate, respond to and/or manage all the significant
geological episodes that have occurred in the Eastern Caribbean since its inception,
starting with the 1954 magnitude 6.5 earthquake, near north-east coast of Trinidad. The
instruments were able to detect the eruption of the Kick-‘em-Jenny volcano in 1965; the
1967 volcano-seismic unrest in Montserrat was closely monitored, with staff serving
several tours of duty until activity subsided; the 1971-1972 Soufrière volcano, St
Vincent, as described above; the damaging, 1974 magnitude 7.4 Antigua earthquake;
involvement, on the request of the French Observatories, in the 1976 phreatic eruption of
the Soufrière volcano, Guadeloupe; followed by the 1979 Soufrière, St Vincent eruption
History of the Seismic Research Centre 15
PLATE 7: A 1979 eruption at the Soufrière St Vincent volcano in 1979 with skirt
clouds. Captured by Dr. Keith Rowley during in a reconnaisance flight.
(Courtesy Prof. W. P. Aspinall)
described earlier. Here again, scientists and technicians served several tours of duty at the
Observatory in St Vincent until the seismic activity associated with that eruption
subsided to background. One scientist making use of a crop duster for a reconnaissance
flight was able to capture one of the eruptions in that episode, just as they were preparing
to fly over the crater (Plate 7).
After almost 30 years, earthquake activity again was the focus of concern this time
during the 1982 Tobago sequence, when an earthquake forecasting technique being
explored was tested. Authorities were put on alert for the possible occurrence of a poten-
tially damaging earthquake of magnitude 5 or larger, three days before the mainshock
earthquake at magnitude 5.2 occurred, causing minor damage in south-west Tobago.
16 Caribbean Geography 2012 17(1&2)
This earthquake served to reveal that the seismic hazard near Tobago was higher than
historical seismicity suggested.
Early in the 1980’s the Unit became involved in the effort to develop a Building
Code and pursued research that would support the parameters needed in the definitions in
such a document. Several assessments on the hazard in individual islands and the Eastern
Caribbean as a whole were published. A major advancement took place in this area with
the Unit’s participation in a regional project to develop hazard maps for Latin America
and the Caribbean (1989-1994). The first homogenous earthquake catalogue for the
Caribbean region was produced and hazard maps at a quarter degree resolution were
produced. Using the database and software that were also created for the project, it was
possible to prepare higher resolution maps at the sub-regional level.
In 1985, Dr Wadge and Mr Isaacs undertook an investigation of the volcanic
hazard in Montserrat and produced a hazard map showing the areas that would be threat-
ened in the event of volcanic eruption at the Soufrière Hills volcano in the south of the
island. Around the time this work was being conducted, there was a magnitude 6.6 earth-
quake in the Leeward Islands that caused minor damage in St Kitts, Nevis and
Montserrat. In 1988, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake east of Trinidad, also causing minor
damage showed that in this area also, the seismic hazard was higher than originally
assessed. In 1989, volcano-seismic activity in Montserrat increased above background,
persisted into 1995, when the volcano began erupting. In the lead up, the local network
was densified to enhance the capability to locate the earthquakes that were being
recorded. The assessment was that the activity was indicative of magma movements,
which had the potential to culminate in eruption.
1n 1997, in another earthquake series near Tobago, the earthquake forecasting
technique developed in 1982 was tested and found useful. The technique has been further
developed and introduced to the wider seismological community in a total of three publi-
cations and several conference presentations.
In 2001, funding was secured from USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assis-
tance (OFDA) to support a regional public awareness campaign on volcanic and seismic
hazards. This marked the largest public education effort to be undertaken by the Unit and
led to the creation of a post for an Education and Outreach Officer to address outreach,
which had come to be recognized as essential in helping to communicate information on
the geological hazards, to which the region is vulnerable. Ms Stacey Edwards was
appointed to the position on completion of her temporary appointment managing the
USAID/OFDA project. Around this time, with increasing use of IT in the work of the
Unit, a post for an IT Specialist was created and Mr Chandradath Ramsingh, already on
Staff in the Electronics section, was appointed to the position.
In 2005, the Unit published the Volcanic Hazard Atlas of the Lesser Antilles, which
is a comprehensive compilation of all available information, to that time, on all the volca-
noes in the Eastern Caribbean (Lindsay et al., 2005). This volume is an important
resource for planners in all the volcanic islands.
Tsunami Smart education material was developed by the Unit under a CDERA
project (www.uwiseismic.com/EducationalResources.aspx). This material is used by
History of the Seismic Research Centre 17
Disaster Management practitioners and teachers throughout the region to increase aware-
ness and understanding of the tsunami hazard.
In 2008, the SRC took a decision to fill an existing vacancy with a Seismology
Engineer to strengthen capacity in Hazard Analysis. Dr Walter Salazar, who is from El
Salvador, is now the specialist in this area and in 2010, in collaboration with the
EUCENTRE, Pavia, Italy was able to complete new Seismic Hazard Maps for the Eastern
Caribbean.
Earthquakes know no boundaries and, in this context, there is routine collaboration
with like regional and international agencies. Since early 2000, identifying projects that
advance the science and/or public education has been the strategy employed to promote
development in knowledge gaps. In this context, the SRC has been involved and
continues to be involved in several projects, locally, regionally and internationally to
achieve its goals of developing an understanding of seismo-volcanic processes in the
Eastern Caribbean that promote sustainable development. The routine operation of the
SRC is funded by governments of the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean, with the first
point of contact being the local Disaster Management Agency.
Conclusion
The account of the development of the Seismic Research Centre is instructive. It has been
deliberately presented with dates to provide insight on how slowly (and still fortuitously
timely), but steadily, development has come. The SRC can by no means be considered to
have arrived, it continues to grow, develop and explore strategies to communicate infor-
mation on the importance of factoring the geological hazards into national and regional
planning and development. It has, however, come a very long way in the 60 years since it
was established. Its achievements have come through genuine commitment by its Staff.
There were periods when instruments were constructed in-house to allow available funds
to go further, and equipment considered obsolete in other environments being made to
continue in service. The facility, at the time of writing, is a perfect example. It was con-
structed in 1959, without the benefit of appropriate seismic resistant design and has long
been inadequate to the needs, but the Staff, without public protest, has continued to func-
tion and produce at the highest possible level. Patience is soon to be rewarded, however,
with a new facility that is currently under construction. The SRC has a lean, but strong
team; each specialist is fully committed to advancing his particular area of responsibility,
with a view to maintaining the momentum of the whole; doing all in its power to promote
continuity and excellence in basic services, as well as cultivating valuable research in-
sights, so that the Seismic Research Centre continues to play an important role in future
regional development and resilience.
References
Lindsay, J.M., Robertson, R.E.A., Shepherd, J.B. & S. Ali (eds) (2005) Volcanic Hazard
Atlas of the Lesser Antilles, Seismic Research Centre, University of the West Indies.
Robson, G.R. (1964) ‘An earthquake catalogue for the Eastern Caribbean’, Bulletin of the
Seismological Society of America, 54 (2), 785-832.