Earthquakes are one of the most devastating natural disasters on Earth, causing sometimes
huge economic losses and many human casualties. Since earthquake prediction is not
yet possible, the purpose of civil protection is to reduce damage and protect human
lives, in which the seismological networks of different countries play a very important
role. Special applications of seismic networks are the early warning systems that
can be used to protect vulnerable infrastructures using automated shutdown procedures,
to stop high velocity trains and to save lives if the general public is notified about
imminent strong ground shaking. In this paper, we describe the aims and operation
of seismological networks, covering in more detail the early warning systems. Then
we delineate the seismotectonic settings and seismicity in Hungary and Kazakhstan,
furthermore, describe the operating seismological networks and the related scientific
research areas with emphasis on civil protection. Hungary and Kazakhstan differ not
only in the size of their territory, but also in their seismicity, therefore, in addition
to the similarities, there are also significant differences between the aims and problems
of their seismological networks.
