Normal modes of the Earth

The free oscillations of the Earth were observed for the first time in the 1960s. They can be divided into spheroidal modes and toroidal modes, which are characterized by three quantum numbers n,l, and m. In a spherically symmetric Earth, the modes are degenerate in m, but the influence of rotation and lateral heterogeneities within the Earth splits the modes and lifts this degeneracy. The occurrence of the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on 24 December 2004 provided unprecedented high-quality seismic data recorded by the broadband stations of the FDSN (Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks). For the first time, it has been possible to observe a very large collection of split modes, not only spheroidal modes but also toroidal modes.