Preface. Acknowledgements. I. Introduction: Jean Vogt heritage, learning from the past. Jean Vogt 1929-2005: His life as a seismologist, geologist, geographer, and historian; J. Frechet and P. Albini. Comprendre et completer un catalogue de seismes: le cas de Trinidad; J. Vogt. Descriptive catalogues of historical earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle east; revisited; N. Ambraseys. II. Reappraisal of historical earthquake information. A glimpse into the seismicity of the Ionian Islands between 1658 and 1664; P. Albini and J. Vogt. Investigation of pre-1700 earthquakes between the Adda and the middle Adige River basins (Southern Alps); M. Stucchi et al. Past and future of historical seismicity studies in France; J. Frechet. Review of historical earthquakes in the lower middle age: earthquakes of the XIV and XV centuries in Catalonia (NE Spain); C. Olivera et al. Strong earthquakes in north-western Africa in the second half of the 17th century, AD: a critical reappraisal of the historical evidence; R. Camassi et al. III. Case studies, new data and critical analysis. The case for large (M>7) earthquakes felt in the UK in historical times; R.M.W. Musson. The 18 September 1692 earthquake in the Belgian Ardenne and its aftershocks; P. Alexandre et al. The 1855 Visp (Switzerland) earthquake: A milestone in macroseismic methodology?; M. Gisler et al. In troubled times, in a divided country: the 1789 Valtiberina earthquake; V. Castelli. Review of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake based on recent analyses of historical observations; C. Sousa Oliveira. IV. Quantifying historical earthquakes: effects, intensity, magnitude, seismograms. Earthquake effects on nature and macroseismic intensity scales; J. Vogt.What is the lowest magnitude threshold at which an earthquake can be felt or heard, or objects thrown into the air?; F. Thouvenot and M. Bouchon. Attenuation of intensity for the Zemmouri earthquake of 21 May 2003 (Mw 6.8): Insights for the seismic hazard and historical earthquake sources in northern Algeria; S. Maouche et al. Large 19th century earthquakes in Eastern/Central North America: A comparative analysis; S.E. Hough. Magnitude of historical earthquakes, from macroseismic data to seismic waveform modelling: application to the Pyrenees and a 1905 earthquake in the Alps; M. Cara et al. Quantitative analysis of early seismograph recordings; J. Batllo et al. Making non-digitally-recorded seismograms accessible online for studying earthquakes; W.H.K. Lee and R.B. Benson. Index.