ABSTRACT
In view of the fast increase of population in many countries the analysis of seismic hazard has become more and more important even for regions with low seismicity. Therefore the demand for a more reliable earthquake hazard estimation requires to extend the observation time of seismicity to earlier centuries. Knowledge about earthquakes of the “pre-instrumetal time” before 1900 comes from contemporary documentation, the sources, mainly texts, but depictions or photos can serve as helpful tools. Methods of historical earthquake research are visualized by the presentation of 3 historical events.
