Session Details

The environmental effects induced by earthquake ground motion and surface faulting, which are the subject of the INQUA Project #0811, typically generate serious societal consequences. The recent large seismic events in Haiti and Chile have once more brought this notion to the attention of the global public. In particular, the assessment of surface faulting hazards is vital when large metropolitan areas and critical facilities are located or planned near a Quaternary capable fault; this is quite relevant even during events of moderate earthquake magnitude. This has been dramatically illustrated by coseismic surface deformations during the July 16, 2007, Mw 6.6, Chuetzu-oki earthquake, which affected the largest Nuclear Power Plant site in the world (Kashiwazaki-Kariwa), and in Italy by the damage of downtown L’Aquila and the Gran Sasso Aqueduct due to the ground rupture along the Paganica Fault during the April 6th, 2009, Mw 6.3, earthquake. The paleoseismological and archaeoseismological research conducted in the past decades has clearly demonstrated that the study of Quaternary deposits and landforms is of critical value for reducing the uncertainties in seismic hazards analyses for seismic codes, land use planning, and critical social infrastructures.
This session invites contributions investigating the Quaternary records of earthquake environmental effects and surface faulting, case histories of the geological assessment of ground shaking / ground rupture for cities and industries located on Quaternary sediments, and their implications for the safety of existing or planned critical facilities, such as Nuclear Power Plants.