几乎没有什么感觉比看似坚固的地球突然在一只脚下滚动和投球的感觉更令人不安。因此，人类已经设法测量甚至预测数千年的地震。虽然我们仍然无法准确预测地震，但我们作为一个物种在探测，记录和测量地震冲击方面已经走了很长的路。这一过程始于近2000年前，随着中国第一台地震仪的发明。在公元132年，一位发明家，帝国历史学家和皇家天文学家张衡在汉朝宫廷展示了他惊人的地震探测机器或地震仪。张的地震仪是一个巨大的青铜器皿，类似于直径近6英尺的桶。八条龙沿着枪管的外侧面朝下蜿蜒，标志着主要的罗盘方向。在每条龙的嘴里都是一个小小的青铜球。在龙的下面坐着八个青铜蟾蜍，宽大的嘴巴张开接收球。我们不确切知道第一个地震仪的样子。从时间的描述让我们了解仪器的大小和使其工作的机制。有些消息来源还指出，地震仪外部的身体上刻有精美的山脉，鸟类，陆龟和其他动物，但这些信息的原始来源难以追查。在发生地震时导致球落下的确切机制尚不清楚。一种理论是将细棒松散地放在桶的中心。地震会导致地棒在震动方向上翻倒，触发其中一条龙张开嘴并释放青铜球。另一种理论认为，指挥棒悬挂在乐器的盖子上，作为自由摆动的摆锤。当摆锤摆动到足以击中枪管的一侧时，它将导致最近的龙释放它的球。击中蟾蜍嘴的球的声音会提醒观察者注意地震。这将粗略地指示地震的起源方向，但它没有提供有关震颤强度的任何信息。
加拿大卡尔加里大学地质学Assignment代写:地震仪的发明
There are few feelings more disconcerting than the sensation of the seemingly-solid earth suddenly rolling and pitching beneath one’s feet. As a result, humans have sought ways to measure or even predict earthquakes for thousands of years. Although we still can’t accurately predict earthquakes, we as a species have come a long way in detecting, recording, and measuring seismic shocks. This process began nearly 2000 years ago, with the invention of the first seismoscope in China. In 132 CE, an inventor, Imperial Historian, and Royal Astronomer called Zhang Heng displayed his amazing earthquake-detection machine, or seismoscope, at the court of the Han Dynasty. Zhang’s seismoscope was a giant bronze vessel, resembling a barrel almost 6 feet in diameter. Eight dragons snaked face-down along the outside of the barrel, marking the primary compass directions. In each dragon’s mouth was a small bronze ball. Beneath the dragons sat eight bronze toads, with their broad mouths gaping to receive the balls. We don’t know exactly what the first seismoscope looked like. Descriptions from the time give us an idea about the size of the instrument and the mechanisms that made it work. Some sources also note that the outside of the seismoscope’s body was beautifully engraved with mountains, birds, tortoises, and other animals, but the original source of this information is difficult to trace. The exact mechanism that caused a ball to drop in the event of an earthquake also is not known. One theory is that a thin stick was set loosely down the center of the barrel. An earthquake would cause the stick to topple over in the direction of the seismic shock, triggering one of the dragons to open its mouth and release the bronze ball. Another theory posits that a baton was suspended from the lid of the instrument as a free-swinging pendulum. When the pendulum swung widely enough to strike the side of the barrel, it would cause the closest dragon to release its ball. The sound of the ball striking the toad’s mouth would alert observers to the earthquake. This would give a rough indication of the earthquake’s direction of origin, but it did not provide any information about the intensity of the tremors.