The seismological correspondence at the Observatory of the Alberoni College in Piacenza

Abstract

The Observatory of Collegio Alberoni in Piacenza boasts a long tradition of observations in the field of the Earth Sciences. Founded first of all as an astronomical observatory in 1751 it gradually specialized also in meteorological observation starting in 1802 and that of instrumental seismology starting in 1861. The instrumental observation of earthquakes in the modern sense started in the 1920s and is documented by an epistolary archive of some 200 letters (1913-1972) described here in brief. The Observatory has a broad-ranging initiative ongoing for the recovery of the historical scientific wealth of its long tradition in which the letters themselves play a very important role.