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Investigation of Surface Geology and Intensity Variability in the Palermo,Italy, Urban Area after the 6 September 2002 Earthquake
Author(s)
Language
English
Status
Published
Peer review journal
Yes
Title of the book
Issue/vol(year)
96/6
Publisher
Seismological Society of America,
Pages (printed)
2318-2327
Issued date
December 2005
Keywords
Abstract
For the first time, a high-density macroseismic survey has been carried
out in the city of Palermo, Italy, after the 6 September 2002, Mw 5.9 earthquake. The
aim was to investigate the spatial relationships and correlations between intensity
data and surface geology. A very dense database has been created to store a large
amount of macroseismic, stratigraphic, and geotechnical information. A Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) tool, called City-GIS, enables data processing by instruments
and research keys devoted to seismic hazard. The results show the feasibility
of such procedures, especially for large cities where the surface geology critically
influences the ground motion. Our analysis, made on the basis of more than 2000
intensity observations scattered in the Palermo urban area, demonstrates the role of
the variable geology in the variability of shaking. Significant variations of intensity
are related to the geometry of the geologic formations present in the area. Intensities
increase by about one intensity class inside those city sectors where the stratigraphic
succession is characterized by a thin layer of calcarenites overlying very thick layers
of silty clayey sands. Major amplification of up to two classes occurs in alluvial
deposits in the southeastern part of Palermo, as expected. These results extend our
knowledge of the seismic response in the outskirts of Palermo, which until now, was
limited to the city center.
out in the city of Palermo, Italy, after the 6 September 2002, Mw 5.9 earthquake. The
aim was to investigate the spatial relationships and correlations between intensity
data and surface geology. A very dense database has been created to store a large
amount of macroseismic, stratigraphic, and geotechnical information. A Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) tool, called City-GIS, enables data processing by instruments
and research keys devoted to seismic hazard. The results show the feasibility
of such procedures, especially for large cities where the surface geology critically
influences the ground motion. Our analysis, made on the basis of more than 2000
intensity observations scattered in the Palermo urban area, demonstrates the role of
the variable geology in the variability of shaking. Significant variations of intensity
are related to the geometry of the geologic formations present in the area. Intensities
increase by about one intensity class inside those city sectors where the stratigraphic
succession is characterized by a thin layer of calcarenites overlying very thick layers
of silty clayey sands. Major amplification of up to two classes occurs in alluvial
deposits in the southeastern part of Palermo, as expected. These results extend our
knowledge of the seismic response in the outskirts of Palermo, which until now, was
limited to the city center.
Sponsors
This work was funded by the MIUR (Legge 488/92, delibera Cipe 08/08/
96 (R. Catalano), 60% 2000, 2001
96 (R. Catalano), 60% 2000, 2001
References
Azzara, R. M.,M. Alletti, G. Cultrera, G. D’Anna, R. D’Anna, G. Di Giulio,
M. S. Giammarinaro, L. Passafiume, A. Rovelli, and P. Vallone
(2003). Variations of ground motion in the city of Palermo observed
during aftershocks of the September 6, 2002, ML 5.6 earthquake,
Geoph. Res. Abs. 5, 10,406–10,407.
Azzaro, R., M. S. Barbano, R. Camassi, S. D’Amico, A. Mostaccio, G.
Pingiamore, and I. Scarfi (2004). The earthquake of 6 September 2002
and the seismic history of Palermo (northern Sicily, Italy): implications
for the seismic hazard assessment of the city, J. Seism. 8, 525–
543.
Bakir, B. S., H. Sucuolu, and T. Ylmaz (2002). An overview of local site
effects and the associated building damage in Adapazari during the
17 August 1999 I˙zmit earthquake, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 92, 509–526.
Catalano, R., and M.S. Giammarinaro (2001). Riconoscimento e localizzazione
delle differenti strutture 1D presenti all’interno del Centro
Storico della citta` di Palermo: effetti attesi sulla risposta sismica locale,
in Scenari di Pericolosita` Sismica ad Augusta, Siracusa e Noto,
L. Decanini and G. Panza (Editors), GNDT, 178–193 (in Italian).
Catalano, R., B. Abate, and P. Renda (1979). Carta Geologica dei Monti
di Palermo e note illustrative, Universita` di Palermo (in Italian).
Cecic, I. (1994). Macroseismic practice in Slovenia, Natural Hazards 10,
59–64.
Cifelli, F., S. Donati, F. Funiciello, and A. Tertulliani (1999). High-density
macroseismic survey in urban areas. Part 1: proposal for a methodology
and its application to the city of Rome, Ann. Geofis. 42, no. 1,
99–114.
Cifelli, F., S. Donati, F. Funiciello, and A. Tertulliani (2000). High-density
macroseismic survey in urban areas. Part 2: results for the city of
Rome, Italy, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 90, no. 2, 298–311.
Cubellis, E., and A. Marturanc (2002). Mt. Vesuvius: a macroseismic study
of the earthquake of 9 October 1999, J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res.
118, 339–351.
Dengler, L. A., and J. W. Dewey (1998). An intensity survey of households
by the Northridge, California, earthquake of 17 January 1994, Bull.
Seis. Soc. Am. 88, 441–462.
Field, E. H. (2000). Accounting for site effects in probabilistic seismic
hazard analyses of southern California: overview of the SCEC phase
III report, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 90, no. 6B, 1–31.
Giammarinaro, M. S., M. Alletti, R. M. Azzara, V. Canzoneri, S. Maiorana,
A. Rovelli, A. Tertulliani, and P. Vallone (2003). Natural hazard assessment
through an oriented GIS, Geophys. Res. Abstr. 15, 12,961–
12,962.
Giammarinaro, M. S., V. Canzoneri, P. Vallone, and A. Zuccarello (2003).
Effects of the September 6th, 2002 earthquake: damage amplification
in the south-eastern sector of Palermo explained through GIS technology,
Ann. Geofis. 46, 1195–1207.
Gru¨nthal, G. (Editor) (1998). European Macroseismic Scale 1998, Cahiers
du Centre Europe´en de Ge´odynamique et de Se´ismologie 15, Luxembourg,
79 pp.
Guidoboni, E., D. Mariotti, M. S. Giammarinaro, and A. Rovelli (2003).
Identification of amplified damage zones in Palermo, Sicily (Italy),
during the earthquakes of the last three centuries. Bull. Seism. Soc.
Am. 93, 1649–1669.
Hadjian, A. H. (1993). The Spitak, Armenia earthquake of 7 December
1988—why so much destruction, Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 12,
1–24.
Kayano, I. (1990). Distribution of various effects and damages caused by
earthquakes and of seismic intensities on the basis of questionnaire
surveys: a newly developed group survey method, Bull. Earthquake
Res. Inst. 65, 463–520.
Ruggeri, G., and R. Sprovieri (1975). Ricerche sul Siciliano di Palermo: le
argille del fiume Oreto, Boll. Soc. Geol. It. 94, 1613–1622 (in Italian).
Singh, S. K., E. Mena, and R. Castro (1988). Some aspects of the source
characteristics and the ground motion amplifications in and near Mexico
City from the acceleration data of the September 1985, Michoacan,
Mexico, earthquakes, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 78, 451–477.
Tertulliani, A., and S. Donati (2000). A macroseismic network of schools
for the collection of earthquake effects in a large city, Seism. Res.
Lett. 71, no. 5, 536–543.
Toshinawa, T., J. J. Taber, and J. B. Berrill (1997). Distribution of groundmotion
intensity inferred from questionnaire survey, earthquake recordings,
and microtremor measurements. A case study in Christchurch,
New Zealand, during the 1994 Arthur Pass earthquake, Bull.
Seism. Soc. Am. 87, 356–369.
M. S. Giammarinaro, L. Passafiume, A. Rovelli, and P. Vallone
(2003). Variations of ground motion in the city of Palermo observed
during aftershocks of the September 6, 2002, ML 5.6 earthquake,
Geoph. Res. Abs. 5, 10,406–10,407.
Azzaro, R., M. S. Barbano, R. Camassi, S. D’Amico, A. Mostaccio, G.
Pingiamore, and I. Scarfi (2004). The earthquake of 6 September 2002
and the seismic history of Palermo (northern Sicily, Italy): implications
for the seismic hazard assessment of the city, J. Seism. 8, 525–
543.
Bakir, B. S., H. Sucuolu, and T. Ylmaz (2002). An overview of local site
effects and the associated building damage in Adapazari during the
17 August 1999 I˙zmit earthquake, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 92, 509–526.
Catalano, R., and M.S. Giammarinaro (2001). Riconoscimento e localizzazione
delle differenti strutture 1D presenti all’interno del Centro
Storico della citta` di Palermo: effetti attesi sulla risposta sismica locale,
in Scenari di Pericolosita` Sismica ad Augusta, Siracusa e Noto,
L. Decanini and G. Panza (Editors), GNDT, 178–193 (in Italian).
Catalano, R., B. Abate, and P. Renda (1979). Carta Geologica dei Monti
di Palermo e note illustrative, Universita` di Palermo (in Italian).
Cecic, I. (1994). Macroseismic practice in Slovenia, Natural Hazards 10,
59–64.
Cifelli, F., S. Donati, F. Funiciello, and A. Tertulliani (1999). High-density
macroseismic survey in urban areas. Part 1: proposal for a methodology
and its application to the city of Rome, Ann. Geofis. 42, no. 1,
99–114.
Cifelli, F., S. Donati, F. Funiciello, and A. Tertulliani (2000). High-density
macroseismic survey in urban areas. Part 2: results for the city of
Rome, Italy, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 90, no. 2, 298–311.
Cubellis, E., and A. Marturanc (2002). Mt. Vesuvius: a macroseismic study
of the earthquake of 9 October 1999, J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res.
118, 339–351.
Dengler, L. A., and J. W. Dewey (1998). An intensity survey of households
by the Northridge, California, earthquake of 17 January 1994, Bull.
Seis. Soc. Am. 88, 441–462.
Field, E. H. (2000). Accounting for site effects in probabilistic seismic
hazard analyses of southern California: overview of the SCEC phase
III report, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 90, no. 6B, 1–31.
Giammarinaro, M. S., M. Alletti, R. M. Azzara, V. Canzoneri, S. Maiorana,
A. Rovelli, A. Tertulliani, and P. Vallone (2003). Natural hazard assessment
through an oriented GIS, Geophys. Res. Abstr. 15, 12,961–
12,962.
Giammarinaro, M. S., V. Canzoneri, P. Vallone, and A. Zuccarello (2003).
Effects of the September 6th, 2002 earthquake: damage amplification
in the south-eastern sector of Palermo explained through GIS technology,
Ann. Geofis. 46, 1195–1207.
Gru¨nthal, G. (Editor) (1998). European Macroseismic Scale 1998, Cahiers
du Centre Europe´en de Ge´odynamique et de Se´ismologie 15, Luxembourg,
79 pp.
Guidoboni, E., D. Mariotti, M. S. Giammarinaro, and A. Rovelli (2003).
Identification of amplified damage zones in Palermo, Sicily (Italy),
during the earthquakes of the last three centuries. Bull. Seism. Soc.
Am. 93, 1649–1669.
Hadjian, A. H. (1993). The Spitak, Armenia earthquake of 7 December
1988—why so much destruction, Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng. 12,
1–24.
Kayano, I. (1990). Distribution of various effects and damages caused by
earthquakes and of seismic intensities on the basis of questionnaire
surveys: a newly developed group survey method, Bull. Earthquake
Res. Inst. 65, 463–520.
Ruggeri, G., and R. Sprovieri (1975). Ricerche sul Siciliano di Palermo: le
argille del fiume Oreto, Boll. Soc. Geol. It. 94, 1613–1622 (in Italian).
Singh, S. K., E. Mena, and R. Castro (1988). Some aspects of the source
characteristics and the ground motion amplifications in and near Mexico
City from the acceleration data of the September 1985, Michoacan,
Mexico, earthquakes, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 78, 451–477.
Tertulliani, A., and S. Donati (2000). A macroseismic network of schools
for the collection of earthquake effects in a large city, Seism. Res.
Lett. 71, no. 5, 536–543.
Toshinawa, T., J. J. Taber, and J. B. Berrill (1997). Distribution of groundmotion
intensity inferred from questionnaire survey, earthquake recordings,
and microtremor measurements. A case study in Christchurch,
New Zealand, during the 1994 Arthur Pass earthquake, Bull.
Seism. Soc. Am. 87, 356–369.
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