Abstract:
Earthquakes are the deadliest natural disasters affecting the human environment. Global seismic risk and vulnerability to earthquakes are increasing steadily as urbanization and development occupy more areas that a prone to effects of strong earthquakes. Furthermore, uncontrolled growth of mega cities in highly seismic areas in the world is often associated with the construction of buildings and infrastructure, inconsistent with the regional seismo-tectonic features and seismic hazard. The assessment of seismic hazard and generation of earthquake scenarios is the first link in the prevention chain and the first step in the evaluation of the seismic risk.
In the present study a deterministic earthquake scenario (expressed in macroseismic intensity MSK) for the city of Ruse is generated. The study is guided by the perception that usable and realistic, based on both local seismic history and tectonic conditions, ground motion maps have to be produced for urban areas. The scenario maps account soil amplification effects using the geotechnical zonation of the considered urban area.