Robert Cecil Hayes was an astronomer and seismologist who made significant contributions in these fields even without formal qualifications. Robert was trained at the Dominion Observatory Wellington (then named the Hector Observatory) in 1920 where he would work for 40 years. For 12 years he was acting-director of the Hector Observatory. The observatory was responsible for maintaining the New Zealand Government Time Service. Robert contributed to 30 papers. He was among the first to demonstrate that earthquakes can occur at great depths in the earth, and he modified Charles Richter’s scale of earthquake magnitude to apply to these deep shocks. His observations laid a firm foundation for many later developments, such as modern concepts of plate tectonics.
Robert Cecil Hayes
Died 1977
