Preface; 1. Macroseismic information; 2. Evaluation of macroseismic data; 3. Catalogue of earthquakes; 4. Evaluation of instrumental data; 5. Long-term seismicity; 6. Future challenges; Appendix: Photographs of researchers in the field; References; Index.

Nicholas Ambraseys was trained at the Imperial College of Science, London, as a Civil Engineer, specialising in soil dynamics and engineering geology. He later became Professor of Engineering Seismology, and Head of the Engineering Seismology Section at Imperial College. Since 1994, he has been a Senior Research Investigator and Fellow in the Department of Civil Engineering. Professor Ambraseys is a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering, The European Academy, and The Academy of Athens, and has been awarded medals from The Royal Geographical Society (1975), The Geological Society of London (2002) and the Seismological Society of America (2006). He is currently Vice-President of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering, Director of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering, Chairman of the International Commission for the Protection of Historical Monuments and co-editor of the Journal of Earthquake Engineering. Professor Ambraseys is the author of two other books for Cambridge University Press: A History of Persian Earthquakes (1982) and The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea (1994).