author

Miguel Saderra Masó

d. 1939

A Spanish Jesuit in the Philippines, he wrote vivid diary entries during the upheavals of 1898 and also became known for his careful work on earthquakes, volcanoes, and weather. His writing brings together the close-up view of a witness and the precision of a scientist.

1 Audiobook

Catalogue of Violent and Destructive Earthquakes in the Philippines With an Appendix: Earthquakes in the Marianas Islands 1599-1909

Catalogue of Violent and Destructive Earthquakes in the Philippines With an Appendix: Earthquakes in the Marianas Islands 1599-1909

by Miguel Saderra Masó

About the author

Born in Olot, Spain, in 1865, Miguel Saderra Masó joined the Society of Jesus in 1882 and later came to Manila in 1890. At the Manila Observatory he was placed in charge of the seismological station, beginning a long body of work on earthquakes, volcanoes, rainfall, and the scientific study of the Philippines.

He is especially remembered for publishing early major studies of Philippine seismology, including La sismología en Filipinas in 1895 and later the Catalogue of Violent and Destructive Earthquakes in the Philippines. Archival records from the Manila Observatory also show how wide his interests were, ranging from meteorology to volcanic activity and the history of the observatory itself.

For audiobook listeners, another side of his work may be the most compelling: his diary writing from the Spanish-American War era. Those entries, preserved by the Philippine Diary Project, offer a direct and human view of a turbulent moment in Philippine history. He died in 1939.