Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the generation and propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or other planetary bodies. It also includes studies of earthquake environmental effects such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, glacial, fluvial, oceanic microseism, atmospheric, and artificial processes such as explosions and human activities. A related field that uses geology to infer information regarding past earthquakes is paleoseismology. A recording of Earth motion as a function of time, created by a seismograph is called a seismogram. A seismologist is a scientist works in basic or applied seismology.
The EarthScope project (2003-2018) was an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Earth science program using geological and geophysical techniques to explore the structure and evolution of the North American continent and to understand the processes controlling earthquakes and volcanoes. The project had three components: USArray, the Plate Boundary Observatory, and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth. Organizations associated with the project included UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), Stanford University, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Several international organizations also contributed to the initiative. EarthScope data are publicly accessible.
USArray was one of the three components of the Earthscope project, the other two components being the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). The components were funded by the National Science Foundation and were constructed, operated, and maintained as a collaborative effort with UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), and Stanford University, with contributions from several other national and international organizations.
Paul Gordon Silver was an American seismologist. A member of the research staff at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington since 1982, Paul Silver made a series of important contributions to the investigation of seismic anisotropy and to earthquake research by observing the slow redistribution of stress and strain along fault zones.
UNAVCO was a non-profit university-governed consortium that facilitated geology research and education using geodesy.
John "Jack" Ertle Oliver was an American scientist. Oliver, who earned his PhD at Columbia University in 1953, studied earthquakes and ultimately provided seismic evidence supporting plate tectonics. In the 1960s, Oliver and his former graduate student, Bryan Isacks, set up seismographic stations in the South Pacific to record earthquake activity, and the data collected led to the insight that part of the ocean floor was being pushed downward.
Richard C. Aster is an American seismologist and is Professor of Geophysics at Colorado State University.
Weston Observatory is a geophysical research laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College. The Observatory is located in the town of Weston, Massachusetts, about 13 miles (21 km) west of downtown Boston.
The Kyrgyz Republic Seismic Network (KRNET) is a regional continuous telemetric network of very broadband seismic data in Kyrgyzstan. It was established in 2008 and replaced the Kyrgyz Seismic Network (KNET) from 1991.
Anya Marie Reading is a professor of Geophysics and Associate Head of Research in the School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania.
The World-Wide Standardized Seismograph Network (WWSSN) – originally the World-Wide Network of Seismograph Stations (WWNSS) – was a global network of about 120 seismograph stations built in the 1960s that generated an unprecedented collection of high quality seismic data. This data enabled seismology to become a quantitative science, elucidated the focal mechanisms of earthquakes and the structure of the Earth's crust, and contributed to the development of plate tectonic theory. The WWSSN is credited with spurring a renaissance in seismological research.
Alik Ismail-Zadeh is a mathematical geophysicist known for his contribution to computational geodynamics and natural hazard studies, pioneering work on data assimilation in geodynamics as well as for outstanding service to the Earth and space science community. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
Karen Fischer is an American seismologist known for her research on the structure of Earth's mantle, its lithosphere, and how subduction zones change over geologic history.
Anne Meltzer is a seismologist known for her research on earthquakes and the formation of mountain ranges. Her research primarily focused on the evolution of the Earth's lithosphere and the surface processes associated with faulting and deformation in the Earth's crust. Through her own personal research and collaboration with other colleagues, she strived to make advancements in the efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring earthquakes. In addition, her work aimed to effectively reduce earthquake destruction in countries that experience frequent seismic phenomena.
MERMAID is a marine scientific instrument platform, short for Mobile Earthquake Recorder for Marine Areas by Independent Divers.
The Institute of Geophysics, GFÚ, is a publicly funded scientific research institution in Prague affiliated with the Czech Academy of Sciences. It focuses on pure and applied research in the Earth and environmental sciences.
Seth Avram Stein is an American geophysicist with an international reputation for his research in plate tectonics, seismology, and space geodesy. He has also done important work in public policy for coping with earthquake hazards.
The U.S. National Science Foundation's Seismological Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience(NSF SAGE) is a distributed, multi-user national facility that provides support for state of-the-art seismic research. It is operated by EarthScope Consortium. Its previous operator was the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), until its merger with UNAVCO to become EarthScope Consortium. NSF SAGE is one of the two premier geophysical facilities in support of geoscience and geoscience education of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The other premiere geophysical facility is NSF GAGE, the Geodetic Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience.
Continuously Operating Caribbean GPS Observational Network (COCONet) was a global positioning system (GPS) observation network that spanned across the Caribbean and the neighboring area It was part of UNAVCO (University Navstar Corporation). UNAVCO and IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) Consortium later merged to create EarthScope Consortium in 2023.
The EarthScope Primary Instrument Center is a research center at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for geophysics research in Earth system science. The facility provides instrumentation and support services for seismology experiments around the world, as well as those for the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
