The word derives from the Greek σεισμός , seismós , a shaking or quake , from the verb σείω , seíō , to shake ; and μέτρον , métron , measure and was coined by David Milne-Home in 1841 , to describe an instrument designed by Scottish physicist James David Forbes .
The word derives from the Greek σεισμός , seismós , a shaking or quake , from the verb σείω , seíō , to shake ; and μέτρον , métron , measure .