The earthquake was first mentioned in 1995, in an essay called Archive Fever, a Freudian Impression, written by Jacques Derrida. You read the first three pages of this essay.

Derrida doesn’t address a specific existing archive, but attempts to pin down The Archive as a general phenomenon. He describes it as a creature with a drive of its own; to live, to remember - and consequently, it also has a death drive; to forget. He reminds us that the word Arkhe both means commencement and commandment. The word "archive", he goes on, has its origins in the Greek word arkheion; it refers to a house, a domicile, an address. It is an enclosed space, with a defined location and it is from there, or here, that the Archons rule.

The Archons are the guardians of the archive, where they not only ensure the physical security of what is deposited; they are entitled to the exclusive right to interpret it.

As Curator and Scientific Head of Animal Sound Archive, Karl flawlessly conforms to the role of an Archon. His admiration and loyalty for the predecessor and founder of the archive, Günter Tembrock, enhances a patriarchal system of inheritance, where the archive passes between one Archon to another.