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Big EQ in Italy

Big EQ in Italy

Big EQ in Italy

(OP)
Here's the USGS Maps:

USGS Link

RE: Big EQ in Italy

wow, it's been a while.
I am glad it wasn't severe.  

Fe

RE: Big EQ in Italy

(OP)
Well, over 150 are dead and whole towns are destroyed per the news reports (which can sometimes get overly magnified).

 

RE: Big EQ in Italy

I don't think the news reports are exaggerated.  It was a major earthquake, at least in the context of how it affected the medieval buildings in the area.

RE: Big EQ in Italy

hmm. Its unfortunate. As far as I know central Italy was bombed heavily in WWII. A lot of the medieval ruins were destroyed then. I hope this hasn't effected what they have left over.  

Fe

RE: Big EQ in Italy

I wonder what can be done in a structural suppression point of view on buildings that have been built centuries ago.  

Fe

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Seismic isolation retrofits.

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Strucurally speaking, considering the magnitude of the quake, which was not that much in my opinion, the results are pathetic.  They really need to invest in retrofitting.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Sure, old stone masonry and brick masonry buildings can be improved by retrofitting.  But that approach really will only ever apply to significant buildings, not all the old buildings in Europe, Asia, etc.

RE: Big EQ in Italy

True, but every little bit helps, along whth a change in thinking and values.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Big EQ in Italy

At latest ,179 dead,1500 injured, 100,000 homeless.In 1980 they passed strict laws on new construction for earthquake resistance.However there are buildings there at least 700years old ! A  scientist had predicted the earthquake measuring things like radon which was increasing along with tremers since January !.Unfortunately he was muzzled so as not to panic the peaple !! This will become a big story.Italians also have a fatalistic attitude when it comes to earthquakes !

RE: Big EQ in Italy

I heard from radio station, a repoter was saying some modern structures (built over the last 20-30 years) suffered worse damages than the historical structures. Don't know how true it is.

RE: Big EQ in Italy

This earthquake was predicted from the increase in radon levels observed and the authorities muzzled the scientist who was making the predictions.

RE: Big EQ in Italy

From the Winnipeg Free Press:

The earthquake, Italy's deadliest since 1980, left a political scandal as rescue workers looked for hundreds of people feared trapped in the rubble. Only last week, Italy's Civil Protection Agency dismissed a seismologist's warnings that the mountainous Abruzzo region, whose capital is L'Aquila, was about to get hit with a massive earthquake.

The seismologist, Giampaolo Giuliani, works for the National Institute of Astrophysics and was monitoring seismic activity and levels of radon, a naturally occurring gas in the soil, to predict earthquakes. A month ago, vans with loudspeakers drove through L'Aquila repeating Mr. Giuliani's predictions. The city government was angered by his warnings and forced him to remove them from the Internet.

On March 31, Italy's Major Risks Committee held a meeting in L'Aquila at which various scientists played down Mr. Giuliani's disaster prediction, saying it was impossible to predict earthquakes with any accuracy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited L'Aquila yesterday and repeated the line, saying there was "no scientific evidence" that a quake was imminent.

Dik  

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Sad news. Why to set up monitoring agency then ignore its warning. At least some contingency plan shall be in place if does not want to disturb the general public for potential fals alarms.

World trade center, Kartrina, recent economic meltdown, don't they share some similarities?    

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Muffling scientists by politicians is not unheard of.  Same thing happened to Jim Berkland after he predicted the 1980 La Paloma Earthquake in Frisco.  Pathetic, truly pathetic.  

This is the same mindset depicted in the original movie "Jaws" where the local economy is more important to local politicians than the safety of the residents.

There are a lot of natural indicators to earthquakes, not always 100 percent reliable, but are better than nothing. We just have to listen.  

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Latest from the internet - I copied a portion of the article.  Note the downgrading of Monday's quake from a 6.3 to a 5.8.  This article is regarding today's aftershock.


"Seismologists in Italy and the United States could not immediately assign a magnitude to Tuesday's quake. The APcom news agency said it was between 5.5. and 5.7 on the Richter scale. The quake that struck Monday was 5.8-magnitude."

And this damage is from only a 5.8...  God help them if they saw a 7.

 

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Big EQ in Italy

6.3 and 5.8 were calculated using two different methods, it was not downgraded.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2009/us2009fcaf/

6.3 was calculated by USGS using a fast moment tensor, 5.8 is a broadband energy method. The methods typically yield different results.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/topics/measure.php
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php?categoryID=2&;faqID=112

However, your point is well taken, this was not a very large quake

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Thanks - was not aware of that.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Big EQ in Italy

Those of you who say this was not a very large earthquake obviously live in places which have very large quakes.  It is all relative to the built environment as to whether a quake is severe or not.

RE: Big EQ in Italy

They had an aftershock of approx 5.6 this afternoon.

Dik

RE: Big EQ in Italy

damage is relative to the built environment, but size is well defined - 6.3 is just above moderate - moderately strong.

   

RE: Big EQ in Italy

When Cascadia ruptures, it's going to be over a 9.  Currently, our codes only design to somewhere around a 7 from what I recall.  

Bottom line is that in some time in the future, local engineers here are going to have a lot of work.  So will the undertakers.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Big EQ in Italy

(OP)
So from that it appears that the basic things we do today in seismic codes do make a difference.

 

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