This work deals with two main fields: a) The design, built, installation, test, evaluation, deployment and maintenance of Seismological Network of Crete (SNC) of the Laboratory of Geophysics and Seismology (LGS) at Technological Educational Institute (TEI) at Chania. b) The use of Wavelet Transform (WT) in several applications during the operation of the aforementioned network. SNC began its operation in 2003. It is designed and built in order to provide denser network coverage, real time data transmission to CRC, real time telemetry, use of wired ADSL lines and dedicated private satellite links, real time data processing and estimation of source parameters as well as rapid dissemination of results. All the above are implemented using commercial hardware and software which is modified and where is necessary, author designs and deploy additional software modules. Up to now (July 2008) SNC has recorded 5500 identified events (around 970 more than those reported by national bulletin the same period) and its seismic catalogue is complete for magnitudes over 3.2, instead national catalogue which was complete for magnitudes over 3.7 before the operation of SNC. During its operation, several applications at SNC used WT as a signal processing tool. These applications benefited from the adaptation of WT to non-stationary signals such as the seismic signals. These applications are: HVSR method. WT used to reveal undetectable non-stationarities in order to eliminate errors in site’s fundamental frequency estimation. Denoising. Several wavelet denoising schemes compared with the widely used in seismology band-pass filtering in order to prove the superiority of wavelet denoising and to choose the most appropriate scheme for different signal to noise ratios of seismograms. EEWS. WT used for producing magnitude prediction equations and epicentral estimations from the first 5 secs of P wave arrival. As an alternative analysis tool for detection of significant indicators in temporal patterns of seismicity. Multiresolution wavelet analysis of seismicity used to estimate (in a several years time period) the time where the maximum emitted earthquake energy was observed.

In seismology, an important goal is to attain a better understanding of the earthquake process. In this study of the physics of aftershock generation, I couple statistical analysis with modelling of physical processes in the postseismic period. I present a theoretical formulation for the distribution of interevent times for aftershock sequences obeying the empirically well established Omori law. As opposed to claims by other authors, this work demonstrates that the duration of the time interval between two successive earthquakes cannot be used to identify whether or not they belong to the same aftershock sequence or occur as a result of the same underlying process. This implies that a proper understanding of earthquake interevent time distributions is necessary before conclusions regarding the physics of the earthquake process are drawn. In a discussion of self-organised criticality (SOC) in relation to empirical laws in seismology, I find that Omori's law for aftershocks cannot be used as evidence for the theory of SOC. Instead, I consider that the occurrence of aftershocks in accordance with Omori's law is a result of a physical process that can be modelled and understood. I analyse characteristic features in the spatiotemporal distribution of aftershocks in the south Iceland seismic zone, following the two M6.5 June 2000 earthquakes and a M4.5 earthquake in September, 1999. These features include an initially constant aftershock rate, whose duration is larger following a larger main shock, and a subsequent power law decay that is interrupted by distinct and temporary deviations in terms of rate increases and decreases. Based on pore pressure diffusion modelling, I interpret these features in terms of main shock initiated diffusion processes. I conclude that thorough data analysis and physics-based modelling are essential components in attempts to improve our understanding of processes governing the occurrence of earthquakes.

In my doctoral thesis I have investigated earthquake swarms from two com- pletely different tectonic areas, West Bohemia/Vogtland and Southwest Iceland, with the aim of gaining a deeper insight into the nature of earthquake swarms in diverse tectonic environments. I analysed swarm-like activities from West Bo- hemia and Southwest Iceland from the perspective of statistical characteristics (magnitude-frequency distribution, interevent time distribution), seismic moment release, and space-time distribution of events. I found that the ratio of small to large events and the event rates are similar for all the activities in both areas, while the rate of the seismic moment release is significantly higher for the South- west Icelandic swarms. Seismic moment released step by step is characterised for the West Bohemia swarms, whereas seismic moment released in one dominant short-term phase is typical of Southwest Icelandic earthquake swarms. All the West Bohemian swarms took place in a bounded focal zone Nový Kostel that is fairly complex, consisting of several fault segments. The Southwest Icelandic swarms are distributed at much larger area along the Mid Atlantic Ridge up to its branching in the Hengill triple junction, the individual swarms clearly reflect a tectonic structure of respective focal areas. I have...