Hydrological change and climate
Aeolian history of deserts and arid regions
Glaciation and its control on hydrology
Rapid changes during the last glacial-interglacial transition
Hazards and humans
Paleoseismology and active tectonics

Focus Area Groups

Focus Areas Detail

Paleoseismology and Active Tectonics

(Leader: Alessandro Michetti; michetti@fis.unico.it)

The main scope of Focus Group on Paleoseismology and Active Tectonics is the understanding of past earthquakes and future seismic risks using Quaternary geology. The activity of the FG is focused on the study of coseismic environmental effects and their integral expression in the Quaternary record. Recent progresses in the field of paleoseismology have clearly shown that earthquake effects on natural environment are more strictly related to the earthquake magnitude (e.g. Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) than effects on humans and manmade structures. As revealed by the application of the ESI 2007 to case studies, intensity evaluations based on the characteristics and size of earthquake environmental effects provide a more reliable image of the earthquake in the epicentral area of strong to large seismic events (intensity ranging from IX to XII in the 12 degree scales). EEE allow a more accurate intensity evaluation for the highest degrees, when other scales are afflicted by saturation. Thus the ESI 2007 scale proved to be an invaluable tool for the assessment of seismic hazards.

The importance of the EEE’s in seismic hazard assessment had been clearly illustrated by the recent Chuetsu-Oki earthquake on 16th July 2007 (Mw = 6.6) that damaged the Kashiwazaki – Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant (KK NPP) in Central Japan. (the largest civilian nuclear facility in the world). This event was generated by a reportedly “blind” active structure located very close to the NPP site. In fact, damage to the NPP site was essentially due to ground failure and liquefaction. Moreover, this event produced a large number of environmental effects (liquefactions, landslides, ground cracks, coseismic uplift) in the surroundings of the KK NPP. Siting investigations performed in the 1980’s on the basis of Quaternary geology, historical and instrumental seismicity, geophysical prospecting, etc., had likewise excluded the presence of active faults in the proximity of the site (< 30 km), and judged the folds under the plant not active in the past 50,000 years. However, the occurrence of environmental effects was not considered in the earthquake scenarios resulting from NPP siting investigations. This earthquake has dramatically shown that a traditional approach may be not adequate in terms of time window and resolution for a proper seismic hazard assessment. Therefore it needs to be integrated with a detailed characterization of coseismic effects produced on natural environment by “innovative” techniques, like paleoseismic investigations.

To this end, a systematic revision, mapping and classification of contemporary and paleoseismic EEE data is necessary, with special focus on the most diagnostic features for the intensity assessment, such as surface faulting and liquefaction. This goal requires a large interdisciplinary approach in terms of Quaternary disciplines, since the identification and characterization of EEE preserved in the geological record is a process that must involve specialists in Coastal Processes (liquefaction, coastal instability, tsunamis), Stratigraphy (local control on surface faulting, dating of paleoseismic records), Structural Geology (fault systems and failure mechanics), Soil Analysis (identification and dating of earthquake deformation and faulting), Geochronology (precise dating allow establishment of earthquake recurrence histories and correlation of EEE identified at different sites), Hydrology and Climate (climatic setting and hydrogeology of epicentral/paleo-epicentral areas), and of course Seismology, among others.

The INQUA Scale Project

Project: A Global Catalogue and Mapping of Earthquake Environmental Effects

Leaders

Alessandro M. Michetti (President)
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Ambientali
Università dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100
Como, Italy
alessandro.michetti@uninsubria.it
direct: ++39-031326231
fax: ++39-031326230
secr.: ++39-031326220

Pablo Silva Barroso (Vice President)
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Salamanca.
Escuela Politécnica Superior de Ávila
C/Hornos Caleros, 50. 05003-Ávila, Spain
pgsilva@usal.es
direct: ++34-920353500
fax: ++34920353501

Franck Audemard (Vice President) FUNVISIS
Caracas, Venezuela

Takashi Azuma (Vice President)
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
Tokyo, Japan

Scientific Secretary, Luca Guerrieri and Valerio Comerci
located at APAT, Via Curtatone 3 - 00185
Rome, Italy
tel. +39-06-50074781
tel. +39-06-50074300

Luca Guerrieri Geological Survey of Italy
Agenzia per la Protezione dell’Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici
APAT Via Curtatone, 3, 00185
Roma, Italy
luca.guerrieri@apat.it
direct: ++39-0650074781; fax: ++39-064465159

Valerio Comerci Geological Survey of Italy
Agenzia per la Protezione dell’Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici
APAT Via Curtatone, 3, 00185
Roma, Italy
valerio.comerci@apat.it
direct: ++39-0650074300
fax: ++39-064465159