n.
Scientific discipline concerned with the study of earthquakes and of the propagation of seismic waves .
A branch of geophysics , it has provided much information about the composition and state of the planet's interior. Recent work has focused on predicting earthquakes in hopes of minimizing the risk to humans. Seismologists have also studied quakes induced by human activities
such as impounding water behind high dams, injecting fluids into deep wells, and detonating underground nuclear explosions
in an effort to find ways of controlling natural earthquakes.