The beginnings of the Swiss Seismological Serivce (SED) trace back to the establishment of the Erdbebenkommission in 1878. In 1914 the Swiss Meteorological Institution took over the seismological service in Switzerland. In 1957 this SED was attached to the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich. Since 2009 the SED is organised as a non-departmental entity under the direct control off the Vice President of Research, but it remains associated with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
| 2023 | At the request of the Federal Council, the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich together with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), EPFL and other partners from industry have developed the first publicly accessible earthquake risk model for Switzerland. |
| 2017 | Federal council resolution of June, 6, 2017, concerning earthquake precaution measures taken by the federal government for the period 2017 – 2020 |
| 2015 | After ten years of intensive research, the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich has created an updated seismic hazard model, which confirms that earthquakes are a serious hazard for Switzerland. |
| 2015 | On 21 January 2015, the Swiss Federal Council approved the application for Switzerland's participation in the second GEM Working Programme. |
| 2014 | Hundredth anniversary of the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) as the official federal agency for earthquake monitoring |
| 2014 | Start of modernization of broadband network |
| 2013 - 2019 | Second phase of modernization of strong motion network |
| 2013 | Stefan Wiemer becomes Director of the Swiss Seismological Service and Professor of Seismology. |
| 2013 | Federal council resolution of January, 30, 2013, concerning earthquake precaution measures taken by the federal government for the period 2013 – 2016 |
| 2010 | New website of the SED |
| 2010 |
New federal council resolutions:
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| 2009 - 2013 | First phase of modernization of strong motion network |
| 2009 |
New federal council resolutions:
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| 2009 | The SED becomes a non-departmental entity under the direct control of the Vice President of Research and Economic Relations at ETH Zurich. |
| 2005 | Start of upgrading of the real-time communication of the monitoring stations with data transfer to the Internet by telephone (previously via FOITT data network) |
| 2004 |
The SED publishes a seismic hazard map of Switzerland. Although it was only published in 2004, the findings were included in SIA norm 261 (2003 version).  |
| 2004 | Powerful and highly available separate web server (Cluster on Linux) taken into operation. |
| 2003 | Opening of the IMS-Station DAVOX with satellite connection to the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) in Vienna. |
| 1999 | The on-call personnel is alerted with SMS in addition to the pagers used before. |
| 1998 | Publication of a uniform seismic hazard map for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (known as D-A-CH) |
| 1997 - 2013 | Domenico Giardini holds the position of director of the Swiss Seismological Service and Professor of Seismology at ETH Zurich. |
| 1997 | Change from a redundant parallel data-collection system to a high-availability system using two servers. |
| 1997 - 2004 | Establishment of a new network of highly dynamic broadband seismometers; digital data transmission into the data network of the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication FOITT. |
| 1996 | Federal council resolution concerning the signing of the treaty for a complete ban of nuclear tests (nuclear-test-ban treaty, CTBT). The SED is tasked with the establishment and maintenance of a seismic sensor station near Davos integrated into the international monitoring system. The SED thus becomes Switzerland’s national data center for the international monitoring system. |
| 1995 | First foray of the SED into the World Wide Web. The very first version from 1995 is lost to time; the oldest version still available dates from 1996. |
| 1992 - 1998 |
Installation of the Swiss strong motion network with acceleration sensors to detect strong ground movement. Until 1998, 59 sensors get installed on the open field and 34 sensors are built into in dams. |
| 1983 |
Establishment of an automated data recording and evaluation system:
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| 1982 | SED becomes a member of Swiss Rescue. |
| 1977 | Publication of the first earthquake hazard map of Switzerland (Saegesser und Mayer-Rosa). Basis for the SIA norm 160 “Effects on Supporting Structures” (Einwirkung auf Tragwerke) published in 1989. |
| 1974 - 2000 | A high-sensitivity sensor network with radio-telemetry and central data collection is initiated; in the year 2000 it consists of more than 20 stations equipped with short-period sensors. |
| 1974 - 1986 | Earthquakes are recorded on microfilm (previously carbon paper). |
| 1972 - 1998 | Dieter Mayer-Rosa is leading the Swiss Seismological Service. |
| 1971 - 1995 | Stephan Müller takes over as the head of the Institute of Geophysics and at the same time holds the position of director of the Swiss Seismological Service. |
| 1969 - 1971 | Max Weber is leading the Swiss Seismological Service. |
| 1956 - 1969 | Fritz Gassmann holds the position of director of the Swiss Seismological Service. |
| 1956 |
On December 7th the federal assembly agrees on a federal law which puts the SED under the wing of the ETH Zurich (Institute of Geophysics). The law came into effect on March 29th 1957 and outlined the following tasks:
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| 1946 | Exceptionally strong earthquake (Rossi-Forel Scale IX; Magnitude 6.1) near Sierre causes major damage. Normally there are around a dozen earthquakes felt in Switzerland per year; in 1946 this number jumped to more than 517 (all in the Mittelwallis area). | |
| 1937 | A. Kreis and E. Wanner build a vertical seismometer in order to improve the detection of long-periodic surface waves of distant earthquakes. | |
| 1932 | Construction of an earthquake survey station in Sion, equipped with two Mainka horizontal seismometers. This was done to improve surveillance quality in the seismically most active area of Switzerland. | |
| 1928 - 1955 | Ernst Wanner is leading the Swiss Seismological Service. | |
| 1927 | Fritz Gassmann is leading the Swiss Seismological Service. | |
| 1924 |
Using a transportable seismometer by De Quervain and Piccard an aftershock was recorded in the Wallis region for the first time, allowing the creation of precise estimates of traveltimes and velocities of the P and S waves.  |
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| 1922 |
A universal seismometer developed by Alfred De Quervain and August Piccard and weighing 21 tonnes is put into operation at the earthquake monitoring station in Degenried, Zurich. This means that for the first time all three components of movement during an earthquake (north–south, east–west, vertical) can be recorded simultaneously. Moreover, the seismometer is also capable of registering both strong earthquakes of distant origin as well as weaker earthquakes in closer proximity.  |
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| 1915 | Construction of a third earthquake monitoring station equipped with a Bosch-Omori horizontal seismometer in Chur | |
| 1914 - 1926 | Alfred de Quervain is leading the Swiss Seismological Service. | |
| 1914 | Foundation of the Swiss Seismological Service With the entry into force of the federal act on 1 April 1914, the status of the national seismic service changed from being a task to an official institution. From then on, the corresponding MZA department was known as the Swiss Seismological Service. Instead of being manned by volunteer academics, the seismological service was henceforth the responsibility of paid scientists in public service. |
| 1912 | Breakup of the Erdbebenkommission |
| 1911 | Construction of a second monitoring station equipped with a Mainka horizontal seismometer in Neuchâtel. |
| 1911 | On September 21st the new station in Degenried for the first time detects an earthquake. It occured in the Thurgau area. |
| 1911 | Inauguration of the first earthquake surveillance station in Degenried, equipped with a Mainka horizontal seismometer (1911-1958) and a Wiechert vertical seismometer (1911-1936). |
| 1908 | The federal council decides that the earthquake surveillance station in Degenried will be built by the Swiss Confederation and okays a subsidy of 12‘000 Swiss Francs. |
| 1907 | Switzerland’s first seismometer (horizontal seismometer-system Bosch-Omori) is set up in Davos by the German physicist E. Dietz. |
| 1906 - 1913 | J. Früh presides over the Erdbebenkommission. |
| 1904 | Switzerland joins the international Seismological Association. |
| from 1888 | The annual reports of the Erdbebenkommission are published in the annals of the MZA. |
| 1891 - 1905 | Robert Billwiller, director of the Central Meteorological Institute (MZA), presides over the Erdbebenkommission. |
| 1882 |
Rossi and Forel develop a macro-seismic scale with ten degrees of intensity, sometimes referred to as "Swiss-Italian Scale".  |
| from 1879 | Regular publication of annual reports about the earthquake activity in Switzerland. |
| 1878 - 1890 | A. Forster is the first President of the Erdbebenkommision |
| from 1878 |
On the occasion of the 61st annual meeting of the Swiss Society of Nature Sciences in Bern the Erdbebenkommission (earthquake commission) is established with its central office in Bern (initiated by F.A. Forel, A. Forster, A. Heim and E. Hagenbach). Switzerland is the first country to establish an official and permanent organisation for monitoring earthquakes, followed by Japan and Italy. The program of the Erdbebenkommission encompasses the following activities:
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In the beginning, Alfred de Quervain (on the left in the photo, in the building pit for the universal seismograph he developed), director of the SED, only had one assistant and temporary staff to carry out the department’s work. Today, the Swiss Seismological Service employs an international, 80-strong team of scientists, technical and administrative staff, and other experts.
As a simple department of the Swiss Central Meteorological Institute (MZA), the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) did not even document its presence to the outside world. Alfred de Quervain, the first director of the SED, did what he could with a typewriter. Today, the SED is attached to ETH Zurich and has its very own logo in four languages.
From the mid-1930s, the Swiss Seismological Service had four seismographs for data recording at its disposal. Today, the national seismic network encompasses more than 200 stations. The data of this modern network are transmitted in real time and no longer have to be collected from the individual stations.
For the first mechanical seismographs, purpose-specific buildings were erected far away from urban ground motion. The image on the left shows a drawing of the first Swiss earthquake monitoring station in the Degenried forest above Zurich. Nowadays, a simple concrete shaft is all that is needed for the modern instruments of the Swiss National Strong Motion Network (SSMNet), installed in particular in residential areas (on the right).
Recent outside view of the first Swiss earthquake monitoring station and a station of the national strong motion network with an open cover.
The Quervain-Piccard universal seismograph was launched as the first of its kind in Zurich in 1922. Together with structurally similar seismographs commissioned in Neuchâtel and Chur in 1926, it constituted the first standardized seismic network in Switzerland. More than 20 metric tons were turned into 13 kilograms. That is the weight of the seismograph of the digital broadband network (SDSNet) presented on the right side. In contrast to the universal seismograph, it records ten thousand times smaller signals.
The image shows the Zurich universal seismograph that weights 20 metric tons in a scaled comparison to a modern Streckeisen STS-2 broadband seismometer.
Earthquake maps have always been an important tool for illustrating earthquake activity in a region. The historical map was drawn by the then President of the Swiss Earthquake Commission and also shown at the Swiss national exhibition in 1914 to the public at large. The lines are drawn around the perceptible shaking zone of the respective quake. Today, with the modern seismic station network, the epicenters can be precisely located, and the earthquakes are now presented as dots on the map. The map on the right shows all earthquakes registered between 1975 and 2012 with a magnitude of 2 or more on the Richter magnitude scale.
Prior to the launch of the first seismographs, reports from the population were the only means of determining the force of an earthquake. Even today, this macroseismic method is still an important indicator in SED earthquake monitoring. After every earthquake, the SED asks the population to note down their observations in a questionnaire. What was only possible via correspondence prior to the Internet age can be easily handled today via the SED website.
