Around 800 seismologists from Europe and beyond recently gathered in Malta for the 36th General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission (ESC) conference, which was hosted by the University of Malta’s Department of Geosciences at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. This year’s event attracted a record number of participants and was one of the largest conferences ever hosted by the University.

During the week-long conference, which is held every two years in a different European city, participants presented their latest research and engaged in discussions about the theory, applications and implications of earthquakes and their effects.

Besides a daily poster session in the Sacra Infermeria Hall, the conference consisted of high-level presentations grouped into 42 separate sessions. The scientific sessions covered themes such as seismic hazard assessment, induced and triggered seismicity, seismic tomography, historical seismology and macro seismology, the physics of earthquake sources, tsunami hazard, seismic risk to cultural heritage sites, earthquake risk, communication and mitigation, earthquake engineering and many others. Keynote lectures were delivered every morning by internationally renowned experts in various fields.

In the week preceding the assembly, 45 international delegates took part in the Peter Bormann Young Seismologist training course at the University Residence, Lija. The theme of the course was array seismology, and lectures and practical sessions were delivered by international speakers, including staff from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation in Vienna, who sponsored a number of African students to attend the course and general assembly.

The ESC council is made up of an executive committee and the titular members of all participating European countries. The council elected the new executive committee, which now includes Dr Sebastiano D’Amico from the University’s Department of Geosciences. The next general assembly will be held in Corfu, Greece, in 2020.