Synopses & Reviews
Review
"...an excellent new intermediate-level textbook." Applied Mechanics Reviews"It contains everything I would want my graduate students to have as their initial core knowledge of seismology as they delve into their research. All concepts, both theoretical and observational, are concisely explained within a few pages, and descriptions are crisp and clear. Overall, the whole book is built on the accumulation of such concise, well-written short segments...It would be a good introduction for students who are to become well-balanced researchers." Physics Today"bridges the gap to the more advanced books on seismology...The author has produced a very instrustive textbook with considerable attention to educational value, as well as historical detail. The book is very well and consistenly organized, with numerous illustrations, which makes it very suitable as a textbook for introductory seismology courses." Pure appl. geophys., Vol 158 2001" The books pedagogy is excellent. I like this textbok and I recommend it to students, teachers, and applied geophysicists. At a time when textbook prices are soaring, this book is very reasonably priced. It is a good value." Richard Nolen-Hoeksema, University of Michigan"Agustin Udias book
Synopsis
This book is an introductory text on seismology for upper division undergraduates and graduate students. It emphasises fundamental concepts and basic mathematical developments. The author describes the application of seismology to the knowledge of the structure of the Earth's interior and the origin and nature of earthquakes.
Table of Contents
1. Seismology, science of earthquakes; 2. Fundamental equations of an elastic medium; 3. Elastic waves; 4. Normal mode theory; 5. Reflection and refraction; 6. Ray theory, media of constant velocity; 7. Ray theory, media of variable velocity; 8. Ray propagation in a spherical medium; 9. Travel times and structure of the earth; 10. Surface waves; 11. Wave propagation in layered media; 12. Wave dispersion, phase and group velocity; 13. Free oscillations of the earth; 14. Anelasticity and anisotropy; 15. Earthquake parameters; 16. Source mechanism; 17. Seismic moment tensor; 18. Models of fracture; 19. Methods of source mechanism determination; 20. Seismicity, seismotectonics and seismic risk; 21. Seismographs and seismograms; Appendix 1. Vectors and tensors; Appendix 2. Cylindrical and spherical coordinates; Appendix 3. Bessel and Legendre functions; Appendix 4. Fourier transform; Appendix 5. Parameters of the earth; Appendix 6. Interior of the earth; Appendix 7. Important earthquakes; Appendix 8. Problems and exercises.