Italian strong motion database relative to the period 1972–2004: motivations and aims

The Italian Accelerometic Archive (ITACA) was created in 2007 during a joint
project between the Italian Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology (Istituto Nazionale di
Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV) and the Italian Civil Protection (Dipartimento della Protezione
Civile, DPC). The project, started in 2006, had the aim of filling the data gap of
existing strong motion databases and facilitating strong motion data users in obtaining good
quality waveforms, through the collection, homogenization and distribution of strong motion
data acquired during the period 1972–2004 in Italy by different institutions (Ente Nazionale
per l’Energia Elettrica, ENEL, Italian electricity company; Ente per le Nuove tecnologie,
l’Energia e l’Ambiente, ENEA, Italian energy and environment organizationDPC). The compiled
database contains 2,182 three-component waveforms generated by 1,008 earthquakes
with a maximum moment magnitude of 6.9 (1980 Irpinia earthquake) and can be accessed
on-line at the portal denominated ITACAat the site http://itaca.mi.ingv.it,where a wide range
of search tools enables the user to interactively retrieve events, recording stations and waveforms
with particular characteristics, whose parameters can be specified, as needed, through
user friendly interfaces. A range of display options allows users to view data in different
contexts, extract and download time series and spectral data. This article describes the state
of the art up to 2006 and the activities which led to the completion of the project.

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