The title of Carl’s talk is Global Seismology, from the Great Sumatra Earthquake to the Mantle
Abstract: Seismology is the most powerful tool for imaging the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of the Earth’s interior. Seismic waves from earthquakes are recorded at stations on the Earth’s surface, and this information is then used to determine the variations in the structure through which the waves propagated. The success of this process, known as seismic tomography, relies upon the quality of the numerical model for computing the seismic wavefield. We use the spectral element method in a parallelized code to simulate seismic wave propagation to unprecedented accuracy. I will show how this method was instrumental in modeling the M=9.2 Sumatra earthquake, and how it will ultimately be used in imaging the finer scale structure within the Earth’s interior.