Seismology

Head of the department: RNDr. Jan Šílený, CSc.

Our research activities are mainly oriented toward the research of the earthquake generation process and the propagation of the seismic waves. We use seismic waves generated by natural earthquakes and active experiments to study the structure of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. We also investigate the physical processes in the foci of either natural or induced events (such as mining or drilling) and theoretical and numerical modelling in diverse environments. The Department of Seismology operates the Czech Regional Seismological Network, the local seismic network in West Bohemia/Vogtland (WEBNET), but also in other regions in Czechia and abroad (AlpArray, REYKJANET). The research workers in our department participate in various international projects and research infrastuctures (ICDP Eger, CzechGeo/EPOS, Ringen) in cooperation with many other scientific institutions. 

Seismic service – maintains the Czech Regional Seismological Network, performs analysis of the seismograms, localize regional and global earthquakes, and ensures the international data exchange and archiving. Seismic service is also responsible for collecting and evaluating macroseismic data for events felt by citizens in Czechia.
Head of the working group: Jan Zedník, members: Petr Jedlička, Jana Bartizalová, Jan Kozák, Drahoslava Keistová

The earthquake swarm working group focuses on seismic swarms. While operating the local seismic network WEBNET, we have monitored and studied earthquake swarms in West Bohemia/Vogtland for 30 years. We deal with a wide range of research topics from the triggering of earthquake swarms through physical processes on the faults to the effective processing of large datasets. From 2013, we also monitor earthquake swarms on South-west Iceland with the REYKJANET network.
Team leader: Josef Horálek,  members: Tomáš Fischer, Martin Bachura, Alena Boušková, Zuzana Procházková, Bohuslav Růžek, Jana Doubravová, Jakub Klicpera

Earthquakes and seismic waves – We study seismic source processes of natural and induced earthquakes. We study seismic wave propagation in complex 3D inhomogeneous structures and we work on the ray tracing theory for anisotropic and anelastic media.
Team leader: Jan Šílený, members: Ivan Pšenčík, Václav Vavryčuk, Petr Kolář, Petra Adamová, Zuzana Jechumtálová, Vojtěch Lávička

The lithosphere working group studies the structure of continental lithosphere and the evolution leading to its origins. We organize passive seismic experiments in international cooperation from Scandinavia through Bohemian Massif to Apennine Peninsula. Temporary dense seismic networks allow the registration of seismic waves, and from the deviation in the travel times, we can model the structure of the crust and upper mantle. At present, we participate in the seismic experiment AlpArray that aims to deep structure of the Alps and surrounding areas.
Team leader: Jaroslava Plomerová, members: Vladislav Babuška, Luděk Vecsey, Helena Munzarová, Jiří Kvapil, Hana Kampfová-Exnerová, technicians: Petr Jedlička, Josef Kotek

Crustal studies – We study the Earth’s crust and upper mantle in geodynamically active areas (e.g. West Bohemia, Switzerland, Iceland,Turkey, Carpathians). We process and interpret data from active and passive seismic experiments to obtain the distribution of seismic velocities, reflecting the subsurface structure. We apply numerical modelling and develop three-dimensional velocity models, including discontinuities, which help in discriminating various geological hypotheses as well as in solving other seismological tasks, such as the precise location of earthquake foci or strong ground motions.
Team leader: Pavla Hrubcová, members: Jan Burjánek, Bohuslav Růžek