American seismologist best known for his work studying earthquakes in the deep Pacific ocean.
He attended Pomona College and worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory before moving over to the Seismological Laboratory at California Institute of Technology.
He designed a number of important earthquake instruments including the Benioff seismograph, which senses movement in the Earth.
He was born in Los Angeles, California.
He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as was Astronomer Gerald Neugebauer.
