| Summary: |
This projects aims to improve the knowledge regarding the seismic hazard and risk assessment in urban areas in Portugal and Algeria, leveraging upon the expertise of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto concerning earthquake structural modelling and risk assessment at national level, and the large experience of the Research Centre of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics (CRAAG), in particular its seismology division, in hazard assessment and collection of earthquake information.
The North of Algeria is the most active seismogenic region in the Western Mediterranean basin, with an historic occurrence of frequent and very destructive earthquakes in this area, which had led in the past few decades to approximately 50.000 fatalities and a large economic, human and social impact [1]. Moreover, Portugal is a moderate seismicity country that has been partly destroyed in the past by large seismic events, such as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake [2], which shook philosophical thoughts and redefined the importance of seismic causes and consequences in the European society [3].
Within this context, a unified hazard model will be defined for the North of Algeria, taking into consideration the seismic activity of the region and the extensive catalogue of seismic data collected by CRAAG.
Several vulnerability models will be derived for the most important building typologies in both countries, and employed in city scenarios considering historical earthquakes and probabilistic seismic hazard. Moreover, post-earthquake damage information gathered from the most recent Algerian earthquakes, will be used to calibrate the derived vulnerability models. These results will be provided to the local authorities to support the development of risk mitigation measures, and incorporated in a web based platform for real-time communication and dissemination purposes of the consequences of earthquake events.
Furthermore, steaming from the fact that Algeria is a major nat  |
Summary
This projects aims to improve the knowledge regarding the seismic hazard and risk assessment in urban areas in Portugal and Algeria, leveraging upon the expertise of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto concerning earthquake structural modelling and risk assessment at national level, and the large experience of the Research Centre of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics (CRAAG), in particular its seismology division, in hazard assessment and collection of earthquake information.
The North of Algeria is the most active seismogenic region in the Western Mediterranean basin, with an historic occurrence of frequent and very destructive earthquakes in this area, which had led in the past few decades to approximately 50.000 fatalities and a large economic, human and social impact [1]. Moreover, Portugal is a moderate seismicity country that has been partly destroyed in the past by large seismic events, such as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake [2], which shook philosophical thoughts and redefined the importance of seismic causes and consequences in the European society [3].
Within this context, a unified hazard model will be defined for the North of Algeria, taking into consideration the seismic activity of the region and the extensive catalogue of seismic data collected by CRAAG.
Several vulnerability models will be derived for the most important building typologies in both countries, and employed in city scenarios considering historical earthquakes and probabilistic seismic hazard. Moreover, post-earthquake damage information gathered from the most recent Algerian earthquakes, will be used to calibrate the derived vulnerability models. These results will be provided to the local authorities to support the development of risk mitigation measures, and incorporated in a web based platform for real-time communication and dissemination purposes of the consequences of earthquake events.
Furthermore, steaming from the fact that Algeria is a major natural gas supplier of the Iberian Peninsula and the third-largest supplier to Europe, a special attention is drawn to the systemic seismic vulnerability assessment of the gas network (pipelines) in Algeria. The estimation of the economic impact and business interruption in the Portuguese territory, due to partial failures or collapses, will also be conducted.
A strong collaboration and knowledge transfer between the complementary competences of FEUP and CRAAG is expected and will definitely grant the success of the project SMARTER, ensuring also that both Portuguese and Algerian societies will benefit from the outcomes of this initiative, increasing their resilience and preparedness to mitigate the impact of future earthquakes. |