A Self-Parsing File Format for Earthquake Catalog and Data Files

In modern seismology it is a fairly common need to process files of earthquake picentres by computer in order to per-form some task, which might be as simple as merely plotting them on a map, or might be some more complex statistical analysis connected with seismic hazard or earthquake predic-tion research. The software used for such analyses is usually highly specialized; it cannot be purchased from commercial sources and must be written specially for the task in hand, usually by the seismologist himself or a colleague. The sharing and circulation of such computer programs is greatly to be encouraged; it saves workers from having to reinvent the wheel and promotes new research activities. However, one obstacle to the sharing of such software is the lack of a common file format for earthquake catalog data. There are standard formats available, but as the saying goes