About this Research Topic

Background

Recent seismic events (e.g., Van 2011, Turkey; Amatrice-Norcia 2016-2017, Italy; Canterbury 2010-2011, New Zealand; Puebla-Morelos 2017, Mexico) have confirmed the high risk in earthquake-prone urban areas. Hence, the assessment of the impact of both devastating earthquakes with long recurrence periods and small-to-moderate magnitude events with a higher frequency of occurrence must become, in the coming decades, the centerpiece of analysis for reducing risk and increasing resilience, especially in the light of the global growth of urban population and concentration of wealth in cities.

First, developing risk reduction measures requires detailed seismic hazard models and quantitative estimates of ground shaking on a fine spatial scale. In many cases, indeed, large metropolitan areas worldwide are located close to seismic sources capable of producing large earthquakes with long recurrence times and, consequently, pose a considerable threat to such areas. Also, near field ground motions induced by small-to-moderate magnitude events (e.g., induced seismicity related to the exploitation of energy resources or small magnitude earthquakes on “urban” seismogenic faults) deserve special attention due to the contradictory social perception and consequent low acceptance. Moreover, as site effects can significantly modify the duration, amplitude, and frequency content of the seismic ground motion, in recent years, significant efforts have been spent to increase the knowledge about site response through detailed ground response analyses, and microzonation studies. Indeed, under moderate-to-strong ground shaking, civil engineering structures are forced into vibration and their response is controlled by their current dynamic characteristics and the nature of the seismic ground motion. Internal linear and nonlinear processes are then activated in different ways, according to the structural features and the nature of the seismic source and site conditions. In addition, modification of the seismic wave propagation in the presence of buildings resting on sedimentary basins still remains an open question and requires the attention of scientists.

The present Research Topic welcomes studies based on the application of innovative methodologies, models, and practices aimed to improve standards in seismic hazard and risk assessments on the urban scale. The Topic is intended to be a collection of articles that cover different aspects and topics of engineering seismology, including strong ground-motion observations and estimations in urban areas using innovative techniques and technologies, broadband ground-motion simulations, estimation of site effects and their incorporation into the seismic hazard and risk assessments, soil-structure interaction, and loss estimations. In all these studies, the urban environment, with all its specificities and interactions with the seismic hazard, should be at the heart of the Topic.

The goal of the Research Topic is to take stock of the situation concerning current practices and strategies for seismic hazard analysis and seismic risk mitigation in urban areas. Nowadays, indeed, the amount of available data and methods (e.g., ground-motion recordings, seismic microzonation studies) allows the downsizing of studies on a large scale to the scale of urban areas. However, is the downsizing sufficient to produce reliable risk mitigation strategies, or site-specific urban-scale analyses are needed? How does the definition of seismic hazard in urban areas differ from the hazard in open fields? To this end, the proposed Topic must serve as the collector of up-to-date efforts in the fields of seismic hazard analysis, seismic microzonation, site effects, and ground response, near-field ground-motion prediction and simulation, building response, and advanced monitoring methods, modelling, and predicting the seismic impact in cities.

We welcome studies based on the application of innovative methodologies and practices aimed to improve standards in seismic hazard and risk assessments through the presentation of databases, models, and applications that are suited to the urban areas. Specifically, the Topic is intended to be a collection of articles dealing with different topics of engineering seismology that revolve around the urban environment: strong ground-motion observations and estimations, broadband ground-motion simulations (with special attention on short wavelengths associated with faults that impact urban areas), estimation of site effects, fault displacement hazard analysis, site-specific probabilistic and deterministic ground-motion hazard assessments, seismic monitoring in urban environments, soil-structure interaction, implementation of current practices in building codes and urban planning, methods for modelling and predicting seismic impact.

Topic Editor Dr. Simone Barani is a researcher at the University of Genoa and managing director of the academic spin-off company GEAmb Srl. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject.

Keywords: seismic hazard, seismic risk, PSHA, seismic microzonation, seismic ground motion, urban systems

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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