Exciting developments in earthquake science have benefited from new observations, improved computational technologies, and improved modeling capabilities. Designing models of the earthquake of the earthquake generation process is a grand scientific challenge due to the complexity of phenomena and range of scales involved from microscopic to global. Such models provide powerful new tools for the study of earthquake precursory phenomena and the earthquake cycle. Through workshops, collaborations and publications the APEC Cooperation for Earthquake Simulations (ACES) aims to develop realistic...

This volume features contributions from the first Meeting of the Tsunami Commission after the big 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It presents consolidated findings based on hydrophone records, seismometer readings, and tide gauges. In addition, the volume provides reports of post-tsunami surveys and numerical simulations for tsunamis such as the 2004 Indian Ocean event. It also details tsunami dangers and early warning systems.

In recent years, large earthquakes in the circum-Pacific region have repeatedly demonstrated its particular vulnerability to this potentially devastating natural hazard, including the M 9.2 Northern Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004 which resulted in the deaths of nearly 300,000 people. In the late-1990s, major advancements in seismic research greatly added to the understanding of earthquake fault systems, as large quantities of new and extensive remote sensing data sets provided information on the solid earth on scales previously inaccessible were integrated with a combination of...

The accelerated, and often uncontrolled, growth of the cities has contributed to the ecological transformation of their immediate surroundings. Factors contributing to the urban vulnerability include: lowering or rising of the water table, subsidence, loss of bearing capacity of soil foundations and instability of slopes. Recent catastrophic earthquakes highlight the poor understanding by decision makers of seismic related risk, as well as the tendency of some builders to use the cheapest designs and construction materials to increase short-term economic returns on their investment.

A Complutense International Seminar on "Earth Sciences and Mathematics" was organised and held in Madrid at the Facultad de Ciencias Matematicas of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid September, 13^th-15^th, 2006. Scientists from both fields, Mathematics and Earth Sciences, took part in this International Seminar, addressing scientific problems related with our planet from clearly complementary approaches, seeking to gain and learn from this dual approach and proposing a closer collaboration in the near future. This volume is the first one of a Topical Issue on "Earth...

The topics included in this issue deal with many aspects of volcanic and seismic activity, two of the natural hazards of geological origin that have the greatest impact and pose the predominant risk to society. This book comprises eighteen papers, most of which were presented at an international seminar organized and held at the Complutense University of Madrid in October 2001. The papers address geodetic, geophysical and geochemical effects caused by seismic and volcanic activity; monitoring of volcanic and seismic processes using space and terrestrial techniques; complementarity of these...

A Complutense International Seminar on "Earth Sciences and Mathematics" was organised and held in Madrid at the Facultad de Ciencias Matematicas of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in September 2006. Scientists from both fields, Mathematics and Earth Sciences, took part in this International Seminar, addressing scientific problems related to our planet from clearly complementary approaches, seeking to gain and learn from this dual approach and proposing a closer collaboration in the near future.

This volume is the second one of a Topical Issue on "Earth Sciences and...