First written information sources for earthquakes on the territory of the country refer to I Century BC when an earthquake torn Chirkman Plateau and buried in Black See the antique city of Bizone (Kavarna). For the whole pre-seismological period before 1891 information relatively limited in number historical chronicles and documents had reached us, containing mainly pieces of information and descriptions regarding strong earthquakes which had happened on our lands.

The beginning of the organized and systematic studies on the earthquakes in Bulgaria is founded in 1891 by Acad. Spas Vatsov, who is the founder of the Bulgarian Meteorology and Seismology. He consecutively accomplished the expansion of the seismological research works within the activities framework of the Central Meteorological Station (C.M.S.) in Sofia, which he managed since 1890.

The most important moments from the development of the seismological research in Bulgaria could be grouped in three man stages: Non-instrumental stage (1891-1904 г.); Stage of primary instrumental observations and scientific research (1905-1959); Stage of expanding of the scientific research and modernization of the observation network (since 1960).

The department also includes a formal Central Laboratory for Seismic Mechanics and Earthquake Engineering (CLSMEE). The laboratory was founded in 1982. It is based on a research group established in 1968, which scope was fundamental and applied research in the field of seismic mechanics and earthquake engineering with main objective – seismic risk reduction. CLSMEE was transformed into a department of the Technical Mechanics Institute and of the Geophysical Institute at the BAS, the present National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography.