Laser interferometry is one of the most sensitive methods for small displacement measurement for scientific and
industrial applications, whose wide diffusion in very different fields is due not only to the high sensitivity and
reliability of laser interferometric techniques, but also to the availability of not expensive optical components
and high quality low-cost laser sources. Interferometric techniques have been already successfully applied also to
the design and implementation of very sensitive sensors for geophysical applications. In this paper we describe
the architecture and the expected theoretical performances of a laser interferometric velocimeter for seismic
waves measurement. We analyze and discuss the experimental performances of the interferometric system,
comparing the experimental results with the theoretical predictions and with the performances of a state-of the
art commercial accelerometer. The results obtained are very encouraging, so that we are upgrading the system
in order to measure the local acceleration of the mirrors and beam splitter of the velocimeter using an ad hoc
designed monolithic accelerometers for low frequency direct measurement of the seismic noise.