The territory of Azerbaijan is located within the central part of the Mediterranean tectonic belt. The territory of Azerbaijan is characterized by high seismic activity, where during the historical period (registered), strong and catastrophic earthquakes with magnitude M ≥ 6 were observed. Azerbaijan's seismicity is caused by the intensive geodynamic interaction of the Eurasian and Arabian lithospheric plates (Khain, 2000). Azerbaijan territory may be subdivided by the level of seismic activity and character of the spatial distribution of strong and weak earthquakes in the following manner: (1) the southern slope of the eastern part of the Greater Caucasus, (2) Kur Depression, (3) Talysh Mts., (4) Gusar-Devechi (now - Gusar-Shabran) depression, and (5) Caspian Sea (Aliyev et al. 2005).
The history of seismic studies in Azerbaijan can be divided into two main periods: (1) pre-instrumental (historical), including all the information from ancient times reflected in the historical Arabian chronicles, manuscripts, travel notes of travelers, etc., and (2) instrumental (contemporary) period which includes information about earthquakes from the beginning of the twentieth century (when after strong Shamakhy earthquake in 1902, the first seismic station in Azerbaijan "Shamakhy" was founded) till the present time. Among the strong (historical) earthquakes, we can note such events as the Azerbaijan earthquake of 427, Goygel of 1139, Ganja of 1235, Eastern Caucasian of 1668, Mashtaga of 1842, numerous Shamakhy events (1192, 1667, 1669, 1828, 1859, 1868, 1872, 1902), Ardebil of 1924, Lenkaran of 1913, and Caspian earthquakes (957, 1812, 1842, 1852, 1911, 1935, 1961, 1963, 1986, 1989, 2000) triggered earth relief changing, building destructions, and numerous casualties. A significant contribution to solving the seismological problem in Azerbaijan was made by E.B. Agalarova, R.A. Agamirzoev, S.T. Agayeva, F.S. Akhmedbeyli, G.R. Babayev, O.B. Babazade, E.I. Byus, A.G. Gasanov, R.I. Gasanov, D.Kh. Jafarov, K.Sh. Islamov, F.A. Kadirov, I.K. Kerimov, V. P. Kouznetsov, F.T. Kuliyev, N.V. Malinovsky, T.Ya. Mammadli, B.M. Panakhi, Sh.S. Ragimov, Z.Z. Sultanova, G.D. Yetirmishli, and others.