In 1999, two earthquakes occurred in the Istanbul-Marmara region of Turkey and the Athens-Corinth region of Greece, and an increased risk of further events caused great concern among the earth science community. This book presents and discusses the latest results from studies of the Izmit-Düzce and Athens earthquakes and assesses the data that are available and relevant to the geology, seismology, tectonics, geodesy and other fields related to earthquake studies and to evaluate earthquake hazard potential.

The oceans cover 70% of the terrestrial surface, and exert a pervasive influence on the Earth's environment but their nature is poorly recognized. Knowing the ocean's role deeply and understanding the complex, physical, biological, chemical and geological systems operating within it represent a major challenge to scientists today. Seafloor observatories offer scientists new opportunites to study multiple, interrelated natural phenomena over time scales ranging from seconds to decades, from episodic to global and long-term processes. Seafloor Observatories poses the important and apparently simple question, "How can continuous and reliable monitoring at the seafloor by means of Seafloor Observatories extend exploration and improve knowledge of our planet?" The book leads the reader through: the present scientific challenges to be addressed with seafloor observatories the technical solutions for their architecture an excursus on worldwide ongoing projects and programmes some relevant scientific multidisciplinary results and a presentation of new and interesting long-term perspectives for the coming years. Current results will yield significant improvements and exert a strong impact not only on our present knowledge of our planet but also on human evolution.

Southwest Asia is one of the most remarkable regions on Earth in terms of active faulting and folding, large-magnitude earthquakes, volcanic landscapes, petroliferous foreland basins, historical civilizations as well as geologic outcrops that display the protracted and complex 540 m.y. stratigraphic record of Earth's Phanerozoic Era. Emerged from the birth and demise of the Paleo-Tethys and Neo-Tethys oceans, southwest Asia is currently the locus of ongoing tectonic collision between the Eurasia-Arabia continental plates. The region is characterized by the high plateaus of Iran and Anatolia fringed by the lofty ranges of Zagros, Alborz, Caucasus, Taurus, and Pontic mountains; the region also includes the strategic marine domains of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Caspian, and Mediterranean. This 19-chapter volume, published in honor of Manuel Berberian, a preeminent geologist from the region, brings together a wealth of new data, analyses, and frontier research on the geologic evolution, collisional tectonics, active deformation, and historical and modern seismicity of key areas in southwest Asia.

Unless the geological, tectonic, seismological and engineering aspects of earthquakes are mastered, constructions will never be safe. A thorough knowledge of earthquake geodynamics is also vital if the safety/cost ratio of all constructions is to be increased. experience, this book discusses various aspects of earthquake geodynamics in seismically active regions. The chapters include lessons learnt from earthquakes that have struck urban areas during the past two decades and cover a wide variety of topics including the analysis of seismic sequences, the study of surficial deformation and geophysical techniques for microzonation purposes.