Rotational seismology is an emerging field for studying all aspects of rotational ground motions induced by earthquakes,explosions,and ambient vibrations. It is of interest to a wide range of geophysical disciplines,including strong-motion seismology,earthquake engineering,earthquake physics,seismic instrumentation,as well as to the complete description of particle motions(translational motion,rotational motion and deformation). This article mainly summarized the application of rotational motions in seismology. Based on the collocated measurements of translational motion and rotational motion,the theoretical formulas of calculating the teleseismic Rayleigh wave and the Love wave phase velocity are derived. Taking the Siberian earthquake as an example,the phase velocity structure near the station is calculated. As a ring laser is sensitive to the SH-type motion only,one of the expectations of ring laser measurements is to help seismologists separating P and S waves in the wave field. It also helps distinguish Love and Rayleigh wave energy in the ocean-generated noise field,as well as determine the back azimuth of oceanic noise sources. Then the long-period toroidal modes of free oscillatory,one of the most challenging observations in seismology,is observed with a ring laser. Finally,the importance and practicability of multi-parameter inversion including rotational observations are expounded and present the existing problems in rotational seismology research.