The European Alps formed during collision between the European and Adriatic plates and are one of the most studied orogens for understanding the dynamics of mountain building. In the Eastern Alps, the contact between the colliding plates is still a matter of debate. We have used the records from distant earthquakes to highlight the geometries of the crust–mantle boundary in the Eastern Alpine area; our results suggest a complex and faulted internal crustal structure beneath the higher crests.

The crustal structure of the Eastern and Southern Alps is complex. Although several seismological studies have targeted the crust, the velocity structure under this area is still not fully understood. Here we study the crustal velocity structure using seismic ambient noise tomography. Our high-resolution models image several velocity anomalies and contrasts and reveal details of the crustal structure. We discuss our new models of the crust with respect to the geologic and tectonic features.

Shear-wave splitting measurements have been widely used to infer upper mantle deformation, but their interpretative power has so far been limited by the ambiguity between a frozen-in lithospheric or more recent asthenospheric cause. We take advantage of the non-vertical arrival angles of SKS phases to infer the rock fabric orientation at depth under the Central Alps; we relate upper-mantle deformation in the area to a depth-dependent plane Couette-Poiseuille flow.

The work demonstrates how seismic networks installed in the Alps can be used for country-wide real-time monitoring of rockslide activity. We suggest simple methods that allow us to detect, locate, and characterize rockslides using the seismic signals they generate. We developed an automatic procedure to locate rockslides with kilometer accuracy over hundreds of kilometers of distance. Our findings highlight how seismic networks can help us to understand the triggering of rockslides.

For comparison and as guideline for future seismic experiments we describe our efforts during the installation of thirty temporary seismic stations in Eastern Austria and Western Slovakia. The stations – deployed in the framework of the AlpArray project – are commonly placed in abandoned or unused cellars or buildings. We describe the technical realization of the deployment and discuss the seismic noise conditions at each site and potential relations to geology or station design.