Discussion 2 on "Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake" by G.P.Cimellaro,A.M.Reinhorn and A.De Stefano

This discussion will address two aspects found in the paper:lack of proper information and some mistakes. Lack of proper information In Section 2 of the paper,a short review of the seismic events suffered by the Basilica and of the interventions of reconstruction which have followcd is presented,but the main effects of these events are not sufficiently highlightcd.In what follows,additional information is provided to allow a better understanding of the most recent retrofit intervention and of the seismic behavior of the Basilica in 2009.     

Reply to “Discussion 1 on ‘Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake' by G.P.Cimellaro, A.M.Reinhorn and A.De Stefano” by Vincenzo Ciampi

The authors thank the discusser for his interest and careful review of the paper and his valuable comments.They also welcome this discussion,because it gives the authors the opportunity to clarify several points which were not explained in sufficient detail in the paper,due to space limitations. The paper does not provide any personal or professional criticism of the discusser or his work and if any statement may have raised an ambiguous interpretation,this should be clarified and dismissed.Any inaccuracy in the reference's citation was not intentional.Some of the authors do not speak Italian;therefore they could not read directly and understand the paper cited by the discusser,which is in Italian.     

Reply to “Discussion 2 on ‘Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake' by G.P.Cimellaro, A.M.Reinhorn and A.De Stefano” by Enzo Cartapati

The authors thank the discusser for the additional information,which is provided related to the historical interventions of the church through the centuries.This information was known to the authors,however they decided not to include it in the paper because of lack of space.Additional details regarding the retrofit interventions of the church can also be found in the MCEER report regarding the L'Aquila earthquake (Cimellaro et al.,2010).     

Variation of Q value before and after the 1999 Xiuyan, Liaoning Province, M=5.4 earthquake on the basis of analysis on attenuation dispersion of P waves

Introduction The medium in the Earth is inhomogeneous, anelastic and anisotropic. By studying the at- tenuation of seismic waves we can acquire some information on the component and property of the material, as well as temperature distribution in the Earth. Dispersion of body waves is caused by the anelasticity of the medium (Wuenschel, 1965; Doornbos , 1983). There are two kinds of approach for studying the wave attenuation: amplitude decay and dispersion. Based on wave am- plitude decay me…     

Comment on the paper “The Relationship between Multifractal and Entropy Properties of Seismic Noise in Kamchatka and Irregularity of the Earth’s Rotation” by A.A. Lyubushin,G.N. Kopylova,and Yu.K. Serafimova

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - Abstract—In my comment on the paper by A.A. Lyubushin, G.N. Kopylova, and Yu.K. Serafimova, I focus on the problem of legitimacy of seismological data...     

Introspection on improper seismic retrofit of Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio after 2009 Italian earthquake

The 2009 L’Aquila, Italy earthquake highlighted the seismic vulnerability of historic masonry building structures due to improper "strengthening" retrofit work that has been done in the last 50 years. Italian seismic standards recommend the use of traditional reinforcement techniques such as replacing the original wooden roof structure with new reinforced concrete (RC) or steel elements, inserting RC tie-beams in the masonry and new RC floors, and using RC jacketing on the shear walls. The L’Aquila earthquake revealed the numerous limitations of these interventions, because they led to increased seismic forces (due to greater additional weight) and to deformation incompatibilities of the incorporated elements with the existing masonry walls. This paper provides a discussion of technical issues pertaining to the seismic retrofit of the Santa Maria di Collemaggio Basilica and in particular, the limitations of the last (2000) retrofit intervention. Considerable damage was caused to the church because of questionable actions and incorrect and improper technical choices.     

Discussion of paper ‘Simulation of floor response spectra in shake table experiments’ by G. Maddaloni,K. P. Ryu and A. M. Reinhorn,Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics 2011; 40(6): 591‐604

Three main topics including the floor motion action mechanism, the test frame design, and the target spectrum simulation presented in the paper are discussed specifically. Floor motion action mechanism is critical in understanding the seismic performance of architectural nonstructural components. Seismic sensitiveness and earthquake response properties of the nonstructural components should be considered in the design of the test frame for the shaking table test. Target spectrum simulation is also a challenging job in the shaking table test, in which dynamic characteristics of the specimen, performance of the shaking table facilities, and the control techniques should be all considered. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comment on the paper by M. Ozima et al., “Temperature and pressure effects on40Ar39Ar systematics”

Layered sills and flows are conspicuous in the komatiitic volcanics of the Chukotat Group of the Aphebian Cape Smith fold belt in New Quebec. These bodies consist of a lower ultramafic member with an overlying gabbroic complex and are bound by margins of quench-textured, pyroxene-rich melanogabbro. Features such as cyclic layering of pyroxenite and peridotite, successive appearance of euhedral olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase, and polarized compositional variation indicate that the ultramafic member and lower gabbro are crystal cumulates. The uppermost gabbros, however, appear to represent liquids derived by removal of these cumulates. The significance of these bodies is that their initial liquids were at least as basic as pyroxenitic komatiites (14 wt.% MgO) while the residual liquids are Fe-Ti-rich tholeiites. Similarity between the liquid line of descent within these differentiated bodies and the spectrum of volcanic composition of the Chukotat Group as a whole suggests that the komatiites and tholeiites of the latter may constitute a single magmatic suite whose chemical diversity is a function of low-pressure, crystal fractionation.