ArticlePublisher preview available

Earthquake Hazard and the Environmental Seismic Intensity (ESI) Scale

May 2016
Pure and Applied Geophysics

May 2016

DOI:10.1007/s00024-015-1177-8

Authors:

Leonello Serva

Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)

Eutizio Vittori

Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)

Valerio Comerci

Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)

Eliana Esposito

Italian National Research Council

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The main objective of this paper was to introduce the Environmental Seismic Intensity scale (ESI), a new scale developed and tested by an interdisciplinary group of scientists (geologists, geophysicists and seismologists) in the frame of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) activities, to the widest community of earth scientists and engineers dealing with seismic hazard assessment. This scale defines earthquake intensity by taking into consideration the occurrence, size and areal distribution of earthquake environmental effects (EEE), including surface faulting, tectonic uplift and subsidence, landslides, rock falls, liquefaction, ground collapse and tsunami waves. Indeed, EEEs can significantly improve the evaluation of seismic intensity, which still remains a critical parameter for a realistic seismic hazard assessment, allowing to compare historical and modern earthquakes. Moreover, as shown by recent moderate to large earthquakes, geological effects often cause severe damage”; therefore, their consideration in the earthquake risk scenario is crucial for all stakeholders, especially urban planners, geotechnical and structural engineers, hazard analysts, civil protection agencies and insurance companies. The paper describes background and construction principles of the scale and presents some case studies in different continents and tectonic settings to illustrate its relevant benefits. ESI is normally used together with traditional intensity scales, which, unfortunately, tend to saturate in the highest degrees. In this case and in unpopulated areas, ESI offers a unique way for assessing a reliable earthquake intensity. Finally, yet importantly, the ESI scale also provides a very convenient guideline for the survey of EEEs in earthquake-stricken areas, ensuring they are catalogued in a complete and homogeneous manner.

Matteo Greuter, Roma, 1627: distribution of damage caused by the July 30, 1627, Gargano earthquake in southern Italy; the stippled box encloses the map legend: symbols classify damage as completely destroyed, in large part destroyed, about half ruined, only partially ruined or damaged

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2002 Denali earthquake: intensity field based on CII and ESI intensities. For symbols, see legend in Fig. 9. The assessed epicentral (I0) ESI intensity is XI, based on the amount of slip

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Top Photograph shot from a helicopter in the epicentral zone of the 1957 Muya earthquake in 2005, i.e., 48 years after it occurred. The fault trace is still clearly visible, and anyone today can verify its parameters. Middle Google Earth image captured in 2010 of the epicentral area of the 1988 Spitak, Armenia, earthquake (22 years after). The two villages in the image were totally destroyed, and intensity 10 was assessed there. Today, it is no longer possible to check any damage-related feature, because the villages have been rebuilt and repaired. Bottom The same is true, for opposite reasons, in the epicentral area of the 1995 Neftegorsk earthquake in northern Sakhalin Island, as evident in the Google Earth image of 2010 (15 years after the event). Only a portion of the portrayed building compound collapsed, and intensity 8–9 was assessed for the town at that time. But Neftegorsk was completely abandoned, and this was the reason for further heavy destruction. If someone were to address the 1988 Spitak and the 1995 Neftegorsk earthquakes today, the wrong impression would be that Neftegorsk suffered much heavier damage than the villages in the Spitak epicentral area

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Map of the effects of the Verny, 1887, earthquake in the Tien Shan range of central Asia (from Mushketov1890). The small ellipse encloses the area of maximum environmental effects, while the large ellipse indicates the area of considerable damage. Both contours appear on Mushketov’s original map. Note that most of the environmental effects occurred in a mountainous zone located 15–20 km south of the nearest populated area (Verny, now Almaty, Kazakhstan)

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Location of earthquake case-studies discussed in this paper

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Earthquake Hazard and the Environmental Seismic Intensity (ESI) Scale

LEONELLO SERVA,

EUTIZIO VITTORI,

VALERIO COMERCI,

ELIANA ESPOSITO,

LUCA GUERRIERI,

ALESSANDRO MARIA MICHETTI,

BAGHER MOHAMMADIOUN,

GEORGIANNA C. MOHAMMADIOUN,

SABINA PORFIDO,

and

RUBEN E. TATEVOSSIAN

Abstract—The main objective of this paper was to introduce

the Environmental Seismic Intensity scale (ESI), a new scale

developed and tested by an interdisciplinary group of scientists

(geologists, geophysicists and seismologists) in the frame of the

International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) activities,

to the widest community of earth scientists and engineers dealing

with seismic hazard assessment. This scale deﬁnes earthquake

intensity by taking into consideration the occurrence, size and areal

distribution of earthquake environmental effects (EEE), including

surface faulting, tectonic uplift and subsidence, landslides, rock

falls, liquefaction, ground collapse and tsunami waves. Indeed,

EEEs can signiﬁcantly improve the evaluation of seismic intensity,

which still remains a critical parameter for a realistic seismic

hazard assessment, allowing to compare historical and modern

earthquakes. Moreover, as shown by recent moderate to large

earthquakes, geological effects often cause severe damage’’;

therefore, their consideration in the earthquake risk scenario is

crucial for all stakeholders, especially urban planners, geotechnical

and structural engineers, hazard analysts, civil protection agencies

and insurance companies. The paper describes background and

construction principles of the scale and presents some case studies

in different continents and tectonic settings to illustrate its relevant

beneﬁts. ESI is normally used together with traditional intensity

scales, which, unfortunately, tend to saturate in the highest degrees.

In this case and in unpopulated areas, ESI offers a unique way for

assessing a reliable earthquake intensity. Finally, yet importantly,

the ESI scale also provides a very convenient guideline for the

survey of EEEs in earthquake-stricken areas, ensuring they are

catalogued in a complete and homogeneous manner.

Key words: Earthquake geological effects, ESI, intensity

scale, magnitude, seismic hazard assessment.

1. Introduction

Earthquake environmental effects (EEE) are all

the effects, from geological to hydrological, physical

and meteorological, that a seismic event can induce

on the natural environment (MICHETTI et al. 2007).

Among them, the coseismic geological effects are the

most hazardous. They range from surface faulting,

which can reach displacements of many meters and

extend for hundreds of kilometers, to landslides, rock

falls, liquefaction, ground collapse and many other

consequences, including tsunamis.

Earthquake environmental effects are common

features produced by moderate to large crustal

earthquakes, in both their near and far ﬁelds. Always

recorded and surveyed in recent events, very often

they are remembered in historical accounts and con-

served in the stratigraphic record as paleo-earthquake

markers, the latter being the basis of paleoseismology

(e.g., MCCALPIN 2009). Both surface deformation and

faulting and shaking-related geological effects (e.g.,

liquefaction, landslides) not only leave permanent

imprints in the environment, but can also severely

impact man-made structures (e.g., HANCOX et al.

2002;H

ONEGGER et al. 2004; EERI 2008,2011).

Moreover, underwater fault ruptures and seismically

triggered landslides can generate devastating tsunami

waves (cf. WARD 2001;HARBITZ et al. 2006;TEN

BRINK et al. 2009;OZAWA et al. 2011;SATAKE et al.

2013; and bibliography therein).

These phenomena represent signiﬁcant sources of

hazard, especially (but not exclusively) during large

earthquakes, substantially contributing to the sce-

narios of destruction. Severe damage to buildings and

infrastructure from surface faulting, landslides and

liquefaction is commonly experienced during

Via dei Dauni, 1, 00185 Rome, Italy.

ISPRA, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca

Ambientale, Via Vitaliano Brancati, 48, 00144 Rome, Italy.

E-mail: eutizio.vittori@isprambiente.it

IAMC-CNR, Calata Porta di Massa, 80133 Naples, Italy.

Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Universita

dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy.

Robin’s Wood Consulting, 11612 Sheppard’s Crossing

Road, Whaleyville, MD 21872, USA.

Institute of the Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of

Sciences, B. Gruzinskaya 10, Moscow 123995, Russia.

Pure Appl. Geophys. 173 (2016), 1479–1515

2015 Springer Basel

DOI 10.1007/s00024-015-1177-8 Pure and Applied Geophysics

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

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