World's first seismograph

China has some of the greatest inventions, things being created hundreds or even thousands of years before the Europeans. One of their earliest inventions is the seismograph.

The first seismograph was created in the second century AD, almost 1,600 years before the Europeans. Invented by Zhang Heng in 132 AD and rejoiced in the Chinese name Houfeng Didong Yi (Instrument for inquiring into the wind and the shaking of the earth)

There were many earthquakes during the Han Dynasty so he invented a seismograph. Zhang Heng's seismograph was an urn-like instrument with a central pendulum. An earth tremor would cause the pendulum to loose balance and activate a set of levers inside. Then, one of the eight dragons placed in eight directions outside the urn would release a bronze ball held in its mouth. The ball would fall into the mouth of a toad and give off a sound in the meantime, letting people know when and in which direction an earthquake had occurred.

Source : www.china.org.cn

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