The new paper:

A procedure to estimate the seismic hazard in an urban area:
an application to Acireale (Eastern Sicily)

has been published by Springer-Verlag in Environmental Earth Science. (2011) 64:1777–1786.
The online version of the article is visible here and you can download the PDF from here.

Abstract:

A “standard procedure” to characterize the seismic hazard of a given area was proposed. It is based on a multidisciplinary approach implying: (1) the knowledge of the seismic history of the area; (2) detailed geological surveys; (3)seismic noise measurements; (4) simulations of earthquake scenarios. The downtown of Acireale, a typical baroque town located on Eastern Sicily, was chosen as the “test area”. A catalog of the local seismogenic faults (able to generate earthquakes in historical times) has been compiled, as well as a seismic catalog for the effects of both local and regional earthquakes. The analysis of both catalogs allowed us to make the following conclusions: (1) the most important seismogenic faults affecting the Acireale municipality do not affect the downtown, while the related local earthquakes attenuate their energy (and intensity) in short (few km) distances; (2) the highest seismic intensity (degree X) experienced in Acireale downtown was caused by the 1693 regional earthquake; (3) over the last 140 years, the downtown has experienced the highest intensity value of VII only once, while six times the intensity was VI. On the whole, this implies a moderate seismic hazard. The estimation of the seismic hazard has been also approached by the experimental method of recording seismic noise. Measurements have been performed at seven different sites, where drills gave detailed information on the shallow subsurface geology to obtain HV (horizontal/vertical) spectral ratios. On the whole, the highest site amplification factor was moderate (about 7). A further investigation based on synthetic seismograms (and spectra) produced by simulating two given earthquake scenarios was also performed. The two scenarios are, respectively, representative of the largest expected earthquake in the area (the 1693 shock) and of a moderate (magnitude ca. 5.5) local earthquake (as the 1818 one). Moderate to strong locally expected accelerations were evidenced.

Authors:

Sebastiano Imposa, Francesco Barone, Domenico Bella, Massimo Cristaldi and Stefano Gresta.

Catania, July 14th 2011

We recently update Shakyground website providing a new user interface a a better usability. For any comment or inquire on the website please use our contact form.

Catania, July 10 2009

Version 2 of ShakyGround has been released today. The whole website has been updated. New version of shakyground provides:

• Better user interface
• Interoperability with Google Earth for defining Earthquake locations and Source location
• Interoperability with Microsoft Visual Earth for checking earthquake position within the program
• New “Project” hierarchy to group together different models
• Faster speed and code rewritten with .NET framework support
• New DEMO version does not need a user registration to run. Simply download the product from this page.
• Use ystem coordinate in WGS84

Users of version one may request an update to version 2. Please send your request using the contact form.

A demo version is available for download. Please register to this website to download the program.

This web site has ben launched and is till under development. We’re updating all the background information on the Software. Stay Tuned.