[2] This data enabled seismology to become a quantitative science,[3] elucidated the focal mechanisms of earthquakes and the structure of the Earth's crust,[4] and contributed to the development of plate tectonic theory.
[18] DARPA then funded the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS) to implement one of the Berkner Report recommendations, designing and building what became the WWSSN.
[19] Performance specifications and a request for proposals were published in November 1960, a contract awarded in early 1961, and the first station was installed in the C&GS Albuquerque (New Mexico) Seismological Laboratory (ASL) in October 1961.
In 1973 ASL and WWSSN were transferred to the United States Geological Survey, and operation of the network continued at a reduced level of support until it was terminated in 1996.
[26] Successor to the WWSSN is the Global Seismographic Network (GSN), operated by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, now EarthScope Consortium.