"El Centro Sismológico Nacional" (originally the Chilean Seismological Service) was created in response to the 1906 Valparaíso Earthquake. The devastating impact of the earthquake highlighted the urgent need for a national seismological service. The administration of Pedro Montt, then president of Chile, founded it under the name Chilean Seismological Service on May 1, 1908. The service was the idea of , a former director of the University of Chile. The first director of the CSN, , was a former commander of the French army and an amateur geologist and seismologist.