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Abstract

Seismology is often associated with the investigation of earthquake processes and indeed this is a very important target of the science. However, seismology is also the primary means by which we can obtain images of the internal structure of the Earth on all scales, ranging from the deep interior, i.e. the Earth’s core and lower mantle over the mantle lithosphere and crust, the scale at which plate tectonics ‘happens’ all the way to the unconsolidated material in the near-surface. Seismology uses earthquakes and artificial sources as signal generators but also the ambient background wavefield, previously considered to be merely noise. Methodological and instrumental innovations have allowed ever more detailed investigations of the earthquake process and the seismic structure, and opened up new targets such as as the monitoring of geomorphological events and investigations of the time-dependency of seismic structure. Finally seismology is not restricted to waveform analysis and the instrumental period but draws on historical data and, in the field of paleoseismology, geological markers to constrain seismic activity in the pre-instrumental past. Direct societal benefits from seismology accrue for example from improved seismic hazard estimates and early-warning technologies in the area of natural hazards, from improved recovery and usage of natural resources, including geothermal energy as a sustainable energy source and much more, e.g. the possibility to monitor and thus enforce compliance with the nuclear test ban treaty.