Earthquakes have been the subject of study and speculation for centuries, and from time to time public awareness is heightened by major disasters like those in Turkey and Taiwan. Many will be surprised to learn that Scotland has played a role in seismology for over 200 years, and can claim probably the world's first purpose-built seismological observatory at Comrie, and the earliest network of seismographs. A general overview of seismology will give particular emphasis on the subject's study in Scotland without neglecting events on the global scale.