All articles starting with S

Seismic inversion

Seismic inversion is a geophysical method that converts recorded seismic reflection amplitudes, constrained by well logs, into estimates of subsurface properties like velocity, density, and acoustic impedance.

Seismic isolation bearing

A seismic isolation bearing is a device between foundation and superstructure that allows relative motion during earthquakes while dissipating energy, lengthening the vibration period to reduce seismic forces.

Seismic jacketing

Seismic jacketing is an earthquake retrofit technique that encases deficient reinforced concrete columns in concrete, steel, or fiber-reinforced polymer jackets, changing brittle failure modes to ductile ones.

Seismic magnitude scales

Seismic magnitude scales are logarithmic measures of earthquake size, introduced by Charles Richter in 1935, including local, body-wave, surface-wave, and moment magnitude, the preferred scale for large earthquakes.

Oct 22, 2026

Seismic metamaterials

Seismic metamaterials are engineered periodic structures built in soil or at building bases that block or redirect seismic waves, demonstrated at full scale near Grenoble in 2012.

Seismic microzonation

Seismic microzonation is a geotechnical and seismological method that divides a city or municipality into zones of similar seismic behavior, refining national hazard maps with local soil conditions.

Seismic migration

Seismic migration is a geophysical imaging method that repositions recorded seismic reflection events to their true subsurface locations, producing an image of geological structures in the Earth's interior.

Seismic moment

Seismic moment (symbol M0) is the physical quantity seismologists use to measure earthquake size: the product of rock rigidity, fault rupture area, and average slip.

Seismic network

A seismic network is a coordinated set of seismometers at distributed locations whose recordings are combined at a data center to detect, locate, and characterize earthquakes.

Seismic oceanography

Seismic oceanography applies multichannel seismic reflection, a technique developed to image sub-seabed geology, to the ocean's thermohaline fine structure, with the first results reported in 1988.

Seismic phase picking

Seismic phase picking is the task of determining the arrival times of P and S waves on seismograms, a prerequisite for earthquake location and early warning.

Seismic qualification testing

Seismic qualification testing is the experimental demonstration, typically on a shake table, that equipment can perform its function during and after earthquake loading; it is the most reliable qualification route.

Seismic refraction

Seismic refraction is a geophysical surveying method that infers subsurface layer velocities, depths, and dips from refracted wave travel times; it was the first seismic technique used in oil exploration.

Seismic refraction tomography

Seismic refraction tomography (SRT) is a geophysical imaging method that inverts first-arrival seismic travel times into a grid model of subsurface P-wave velocity, used from engineering site characterization to crustal-scale experiments.

Seismic retrofit

A seismic retrofit, also called seismic retrofitting or an earthquake retrofit, improves an existing building's resistance to seismic loads through interventions designed after evaluation of its structure.

Seismic stratigraphy

Seismic stratigraphy is a geophysical method that interprets patterns and terminations of seismic reflections in sedimentary strata to build depositional sequences and reconstruct sea-level history.

Seismic surface wave

A seismic surface wave is an elastic wave traveling along the Earth's surface, chiefly Rayleigh and Love waves, which arrive last from earthquakes and do the most damage.

Seismic survey

A seismic survey is a geophysical exploration method that generates seismic waves and records reflected returns, imaging subsurface rock layers for oil, gas, and mineral exploration.

Seismic survey vessel

A seismic survey vessel is a specialized ship that tows acoustic sources and hydrophone streamers to image rock layers beneath the seabed, mainly for offshore oil and gas exploration.

Seismic testing

Seismic testing subjects structures and equipment to simulated earthquake ground motions, most often on a shake table, to measure dynamic response and vulnerability for qualification and research.

Seismic Therapeutic

Seismic Therapeutic is a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company founded in 2021 by Jo Viney that uses machine learning to design biologics for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Seismic tomography

Seismic tomography is an imaging method that reconstructs three-dimensional maps of Earth's interior from seismic wave travel times recorded by seismometer networks, adapted from medical imaging in the 1970s.

Seismic wave

A seismic wave, also called an earthquake wave, is an elastic wave carrying energy from an earthquake or explosion through the Earth or along its surface.

Seismocardiography

Seismocardiography (SCG) is a noninvasive method that records the low-frequency vibrations the beating heart produces at the chest surface, first recorded by P. Mounsey in 1957.

Seismology (σεισμολογία)

Seismology, the study of earthquakes and the Earth's structure through seismic waves, is the principal means of imaging the Earth's interior and underpins earthquake monitoring, hazard assessment, early warning, and nuclear test ban verification.

Seismometer

A seismometer is an instrument that detects ground motion, most commonly the shaking produced by earthquakes, and is the sensing part of a seismograph, first developed in 1890.

Sep 24, 2026

Seitaisho

The Seitaisho (政体書) was an 1868 ordinance of Japan's new Meiji government, drafted by Fukuoka Takachika and Soejima Taneomi, that set out the structure of government.