Location

Arlington, Virginia

Date

16 Aug 2008, 8:45am - 12:30pm

Abstract

The geotechnical zonation of the subsoil of the city of Ragusa suggests a high vulnerability of the physical environment added to site amplification of the ground motion phenomena. These elements concur on the definition of the Seismic Geotechnical Hazard of the city of Ragusa that should be correctly evaluated, through geo-settled seismic microzoning maps. Based on the seismic history of Ragusa, the following scenario events have been considered: the “Val di Noto” earthquake of January 11, 1693 (M=7.3), the “Etna” earthquake of March 1, 1818 (M=5.9), the 1895 earthquake (IMAX= 7 EMS), the Modica earthquake of January 23, 1980 (MW = 4.63) and the “Sicilian Earthquake” of December 13, 1990 (ML=5.6). Despite of its lower magnitude, a medium size, local earthquake, such as the 1990 “Sicilian” event, has to be accounted for the seismic hazard assessment of Ragusa, since it may cause heavy damage to the most urbanized area. According to historical data, the epicentre of this earthquake was located in the sea. This earthquake is considered a tectonic earthquake and is associated to the strike-slip segment of the Ibleo-Maltese fault system. This fault system is the major seismogenic structure of Eastern Sicily, and it is considered the responsible of the major historical earthquakes which struck this area in the past. According to the response spectra obtained through the application of the 1-D non-linear models, the city of Ragusa has been divided into some zones with different peak ground acceleration at the surface. Shaking maps for the central area of the city of Ragusa were generated via GIS for the scenario earthquakes. The maps represent an important tool for the seismic improvement of the buildings, indispensable for the mitigation of the seismic risk.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Meeting Name

6th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Document Version

Final Version

Rights

© 2008 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

File Type

text

Language

English

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Aug 11th, 12:00 AM Aug 16th, 12:00 AM

Seismic Microzonation Studies in the City of Ragusa (Italy)

Arlington, Virginia

The geotechnical zonation of the subsoil of the city of Ragusa suggests a high vulnerability of the physical environment added to site amplification of the ground motion phenomena. These elements concur on the definition of the Seismic Geotechnical Hazard of the city of Ragusa that should be correctly evaluated, through geo-settled seismic microzoning maps. Based on the seismic history of Ragusa, the following scenario events have been considered: the “Val di Noto” earthquake of January 11, 1693 (M=7.3), the “Etna” earthquake of March 1, 1818 (M=5.9), the 1895 earthquake (IMAX= 7 EMS), the Modica earthquake of January 23, 1980 (MW = 4.63) and the “Sicilian Earthquake” of December 13, 1990 (ML=5.6). Despite of its lower magnitude, a medium size, local earthquake, such as the 1990 “Sicilian” event, has to be accounted for the seismic hazard assessment of Ragusa, since it may cause heavy damage to the most urbanized area. According to historical data, the epicentre of this earthquake was located in the sea. This earthquake is considered a tectonic earthquake and is associated to the strike-slip segment of the Ibleo-Maltese fault system. This fault system is the major seismogenic structure of Eastern Sicily, and it is considered the responsible of the major historical earthquakes which struck this area in the past. According to the response spectra obtained through the application of the 1-D non-linear models, the city of Ragusa has been divided into some zones with different peak ground acceleration at the surface. Shaking maps for the central area of the city of Ragusa were generated via GIS for the scenario earthquakes. The maps represent an important tool for the seismic improvement of the buildings, indispensable for the mitigation of the seismic risk.