The so-called “New Seismograph Vault” was built on the north and east side of the Old Earthquake Vault in 1925. This building used to house other seismographs developed by the institute as well as calibration equipment, none of which exists anymore. Today, this building serves as a depot, where a spray booth of the mechanical workshop and some historical devices are stored.

Earthquakes “thunder” through the building

In addition, demonstrations and presentations are given here to the visitor groups. Similarly to making whale song audible, the seismic waves of an earthquake are compressed to such an extent that they sound like constant thunder.

Modern broadband seismometer

Since 2005, earth tremors have been recorded by a modern broadband seismometer installed in the New Seismograph Vault, allowing comparisons to be made between old and new and enabling the Göttingen station to remain a member of the network of German seismological stations. The data is continuously transmitted via the Internet to the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hanover (see also Measuring instruments).