Introduction

Abstract

Seismology is the study of generation, propagation and recording of elastic waves or seismic waves in the Earth (and other celestial bodies) and of the source, which produces them. The sources can be natural earthquakes or man-made sources of deformational energy that generate the seismic waves. Study of the seismic waves of the Earth provides the highest resolution of the internal Earth structure that no other geophysical method can provide. It is a branch of geophysics with the highest societal impact, both in assessing and reducing earthquake hazards, and in understanding seismotectonics, the structure and dynamic processes of the Earth.