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Fort George Seismograph Station.
Photo taken 15th Oct 2013 |
Ken Glanister reports ...
I worked at the Columbia University Seismograph Station, at Ft. George, in St. George, Bermuda, (no longer there for years); which was attached to SOFAR. The Seismologist was Nick Pimentel. I worked there from 1961 to 1965, on weekends, holidays and during summer vacation. My job was to change the galvanometers, develop the recordings and get them ready for Nick to read. I also had a myriad of other responsibilities.
I remember the day the Russian Research vessel came into port, in St. George. One of the very first places they wanted to visit was the Seismograph Station at Ft. George and also the Harbor Radio, which was located (still is) at the top of the fort. So, they dropped in and Nick took them on a tour of the Seismograph Station. The Russians were very nice and cordial. They were trying to glean as much information as they could about us.
I had to smile; as they desperately wanted American cigarettes. They traded Nick a pack of their offal, ( almost as thick as a cigar and very strong) cigarettes, for a pack of his Camels. One would have thought, they just got their hands on the Holly Grail. They really enjoyed those Camels. I went down to the drug store and got them a couple cartons of Camels. They could not believe that we would do that. They invited Nick and I down to the research vessel for lunch and a tour of the ship. We were not able to go at the time; but, Nick did go down to the ship before they left port. They asked Nick if he could arrange for them to go over to SOFAR. If my memory recalls correctly, they did go over; but, were not given the tour that they would have liked.
On March 27th, 1964 the earth shook at 5:36 PM (Good Friday). Alaska was hit with a 9.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunamis causing great damage across South-Central Alaska and resulting in 143 deaths. When I went in to change the galvanometers on Saturday the 28th, 1964. I found all of them jammed. I knew something seriously large had happened. I developed the papers and then ran upstairs and called Nick. I told him that he had to get down to the station, as fast as he could. I said something big has happened. Nick rushed in and read the recordings. He was the first to pinpoint and report the epicenter of the quake. The Mid Ocean News or the Royal Gazette, I forgot which one, came to the station to interview Nick. While taking pictures down in the dungeons (where we kept the galvanometers), a Palmetto bug walked across one of the recorders and the photographer took the picture. The next day, the picture was on the front page, with the headlines “Roach walks and earth shakes”, followed by the Alaska Earthquake story and a really nice story about Nick and the Seismograph Station. We thought that was a hoot.
Ken Glanister.
Dec. 31st 2013.
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I worked at the Columbia University Seismograph Station, at Ft. George, in St. George, Bermuda, (no longer there for years); which was attached to SOFAR. The Seismologist was Nick Pimentel. I worked there from 1961 to 1965, on weekends, holidays and during summer vacation. My job was to change the galvanometers, develop the recordings and get them ready for Nick to read. I also had a myriad of other responsibilities.
I remember the day the Russian Research vessel came into port, in St. George. One of the very first places they wanted to visit was the Seismograph Station at Ft. George and also the Harbor Radio, which was located (still is) at the top of the fort. So, they dropped in and Nick took them on a tour of the Seismograph Station. The Russians were very nice and cordial. They were trying to glean as much information as they could about us.
I had to smile; as they desperately wanted American cigarettes. They traded Nick a pack of their offal, ( almost as thick as a cigar and very strong) cigarettes, for a pack of his Camels. One would have thought, they just got their hands on the Holly Grail. They really enjoyed those Camels. I went down to the drug store and got them a couple cartons of Camels. They could not believe that we would do that. They invited Nick and I down to the research vessel for lunch and a tour of the ship. We were not able to go at the time; but, Nick did go down to the ship before they left port. They asked Nick if he could arrange for them to go over to SOFAR. If my memory recalls correctly, they did go over; but, were not given the tour that they would have liked.
On March 27th, 1964 the earth shook at 5:36 PM (Good Friday). Alaska was hit with a 9.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunamis causing great damage across South-Central Alaska and resulting in 143 deaths. When I went in to change the galvanometers on Saturday the 28th, 1964. I found all of them jammed. I knew something seriously large had happened. I developed the papers and then ran upstairs and called Nick. I told him that he had to get down to the station, as fast as he could. I said something big has happened. Nick rushed in and read the recordings. He was the first to pinpoint and report the epicenter of the quake. The Mid Ocean News or the Royal Gazette, I forgot which one, came to the station to interview Nick. While taking pictures down in the dungeons (where we kept the galvanometers), a Palmetto bug walked across one of the recorders and the photographer took the picture. The next day, the picture was on the front page, with the headlines “Roach walks and earth shakes”, followed by the Alaska Earthquake story and a really nice story about Nick and the Seismograph Station. We thought that was a hoot.
Ken Glanister.
Dec. 31st 2013.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Fort George Seismographs, still connected and ready to run!! From left to right:- the East/West unit, the North/South unit, and the vertical unit.
Photo taken 15 Oct 2013
Photo taken 15 Oct 2013