Geosciences and Remote Sensing

SEISMOLOGY AND PALEOSEISMOLOGY

Seismology is science that studies these waves and what they tell us about the structure of the Earth and the physics of earthquakes. It is the primary means by which scientists learn about the Earth’s deep interior, where direct observations are impossible, and has provided many of most important discoveries regarding nature of our planet. It is also directly concerned with understanding physical processes that cause earthquakes and seeking the ways to reduce their destructive impacts on the humanity. Seismology occupies an interesting position within the more general fields of Earth sciences and geophysics. It presents the fascinating theoretical problems involving analysis of elastic wave propagation in the complex media, but it can also be applied simply as a tool to examine the different areas of interest. Seismology is comparatively young science that has only been studied quantitatively for about 100 years. Reviews of history of seismology include Dewey and Byerly (1969) and Agnew (2002). Early thinking about the earthquakes was, as one might expect, superstitious and not very scientific. It was noted that the earthquakes and the volcanoes tended to go together, and explanations for the earthquakes involving the underground explosions were common. Paleoseismology is the geological investigation of individual earthquakes decades, centuries, or millennia after their occurrence.