A city hit by an earthquake: an HGIS approach to reconstructing the damage in Tiberias (Israel) in 1837

On 1 January 1837 a devastating earthquake struck northern Ottoman Palestine, Lebanon and southern Syria, causing considerable damage in many localities. Tiberias, located on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee, suffered badly and many of its inhabitants were injured or perished. Yet, although the earthquake and the resulting damage were described in many contemporary sources, evaluation of the damage and its spatial distribution was never made before. In this study textual and visual sources were collected and compiled to evaluate the damage that resulted. An HGIS (historical GIS) approach was implemented to examine these sources, geo-code the damage and digitally reconstruct Tiberias at the time. The results were a contemporaneous map of Tiberias at the beginning of the nineteenth century and three-dimensional models of the city prior to and after the earthquake. The models enabled a 360º examination of the damage distribution in high resolution and evaluation of the overall impact of the earthquake. This study demonstrates the use of HGIS in the reconstruction of past urban cityscapes and the investigation of earthquake damage. It also suggests extending this methodology to other historical–geographical studies of past landscapes and to the examination of any kind of gradual or dramatic change.     

Sea level change: a philosophical approach

The present Cenozoic era is an icehouse episode characterized by a low sea level. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the human race has been emitting greenhouse gases, increasing the global atmospheric temperature, and causing a rise in sea level. If emissions continue to increase at the present rate, average global temperatures may rise by 1.5°C by the year 2050, accompanied by a rise of about 30 cm in sea level. However, the prediction of future climatic conditions and sea level is hampered by the difficulty in modelling the interactions between the lithosphere, kryosphere, biosphere and atmosphere; in addition, the buffering capacity of our planet is still poorly understood. As scientists cannot offer unambiguous answers to simple questions, sorcerer's apprentices fill in the gaps, presenting plans to save planet without inconveniencing us.The geological record can help us to learn about the regulation mechanisms of our planet, many of which are connected with or expressed as sea level changes. Global changes in sea level are either tectono-eustatic or glacioeustatic. Plate tectonic processes strongly control sea levels and climate in the long term. There is a strong feed-back mechanism between sea level and climate; both can influence and determine each other. Although high sea levels are a powerful climatic buffer, falling sea levels accelerate climatic accentuation, the growth of the polar ice caps and will hence amplify the drop in sea level. Important sources of fossil greenhouse gases are botanic CO₂ production, CO₂ released by volcanic activity, and water vapour. The latter is particularly important when the surface area of the sea increases during a rise in sea level (maritime greenhouse effect). A volcanogenic greenhouse effect (release of volcanogenic CO₂) is possibly not equally important, as intense volcanic activity may take place both during icehouse episodes as well as during greenhouse episodes. The hydrosphere, land vegetation and carbonate platforms are major CO₂ buffers which may both take up and release CO₂. CO₂ can be released from the ocean due to changes in the pCO₂ caused by growth of coral reefs and by uptake of CO₂-rich freshwater from karst provinces. Efficient sinks of CO₂ are the weathering products of silicate rocks; long-term sinks are organic deposits caused by regional anoxic events which preferrably develop during sea level rises and highstands; and coal-bearing strata. Deposition of limestone also removes CO₂ from the atmospheric-hydrospheric cycle at a long term. Biotic crises are often related to either sea-level lows or sea-level highs. Long-term sea-level lows, characteristic of glacial periods, indicate cooling as major cause of extinction. During verly long-lasting greenhouse episodes the sea level is very high, climate and circulation systems are stable and biotic crises often develop as a consequence of oxygen depletion. On land, niche-splitting, complex food web structures and general overspecialization of biota will occur. Whether the crisis is caused by a single anoxic event (e.g. in the Late Devonian) or a disturbance by an asteroid impact (e.g. the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary), it will only trigger total collapse of an ecosystem if a large part of it was already in decline. The regulatory mechanisms and buffers are thermodynamically extremely efficient if they are given sufficient time in which to deploy their power. However, after major catastrophes the re-establishment of successful ecosystems will take millions of years. The present rate of sea level and associated temperature rise is much too fast to be compensated and buffered by the network of natural controls. It is likely that the transitional time towards a new steady state will be an extremely variable and chaotic episode of unpredictable duration. Correspondence to: H. Seyfried     

浅析历史特大洪水在设计洪水中的作用

运用统计分析方法,研究了实测系列中加入４种不同情况的历史洪水对设计洪水的影响。结果表明：加入的历史洪水重现期越长,则设计洪水成果的稳定性越好;在同一历史洪水考证期内,加入１－２个历史洪水对提高设计洪水成果的稳定性和精订作用很明显。     

定位不定量历史洪水对洪水统计参数的影响

针对水电站设计洪水频率计算中的定位不定量历史洪水对洪水统计参数的影响进行了探索,提出了解决这一问题的方法途径。通过对比计算及综合分析可知：考虑定位不定量历史洪水的洪水系列频率计算得到的洪水统计参数,其代表更好,可靠性更高。     

Protection of a monumental building against traffic-induced vibrations

To preserve an ancient building in Rome against traffic-induced vibrations, an anti-vibration system was introduced under the paving of the near Lungotevere road. An experimental investigation was recently carried out by ENEA in order to analyse the traffic-induced vibrations in the basement of the building and the effectiveness of the intervention. Wave propagation in the soil around the building in presence of the anti-vibration paving was compared with that in absence of the anti-vibration paving. The study showed the importance of the taking into account the contribution of other structures in the area to the dynamic behaviour of the whole system.     

Site effect and damage distribution in Pujili (Ecuador) after the 28 March 1996 earthquake

The 28 March 1996 earthquake (Mw=5.7) produced extensive damage in Pujili, a small town located in the central part of the Inter-Andean valley of Ecuador. Variations in the damage rate of adobe constructions throughout the city let us suppose a ground motion amplification related to site effects. A site effect study using the H/V spectral ratio confirmed the good agreement with geological formations and showed that a second peak in some soil response appears at sites that are located over a zone of alluvial deposits, in the most damaged area of the city. This second peak is in the frequency range 5–7 Hz, close to the natural response of adobe building frequency. Thus, the second peak seems to increase the damage rate of adobe buildings and may be related to superficial alluvial deposits of a river, acting independently of the rest of the soil column.     

The principle of coupled stress release model and its application

Coupled stress release model is proposed in the paper considering the interaction between different parts based on stress release model by Vere-Jones, and is used to historical earthquake data from North China. The results by this model are compared with the results by original stress release model using AIC criterion. The results show that coupled stress release model is better than original model.     

The Rhodes earthquake of 26 June 1926

We use macroseismic and instrumental data to re-examine the large earthquake of 26 June 1926 in the Hellenic Arc and other associated events. The earthquake was felt over a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region and caused sporadic damage, and in places destruction, over a large area in Rhodes, southwestern Anatolia, eastern Crete and in the Nile Delta. Despite its size, there has been uncertainty as to its position, depth and magnitude. The earthquake was well recorded instrumentally and we have relocated it using the readings listed in the International Seismological Summary and the present location procedure of the International Seismological Centre. We have also inspected seismograms from 14 stations. We find the intermediate depth of the event to be well established at about 115 km, with a formal error of about 10 km and supported by depth phases. There is evidence of complexity in the source, with a secondary release of energy from the same focus after about six seconds. From original records and bulletins we establish the surface-wave magnitude (M_s as 7.4 ± 0.3, corresponding to a moment release of about 2.2 × 10²⁷ dyn.cm. The felt information is consistent with these findings, and although the earthquake was felt very widely, nowhere did it produce excessively high intensities. Our intensity assessments, usually from original sources, tend to be lower than those assigned in previous studies, the highest being IX MSK on Rhodes.     

Am improved source mechanism for the 1935 Timiskaming,Quebec earthquake from regional waveforms

The Timiskaming earthquake, which occurred near the Quebec-Ontario border at the northwest end of the Western Quebec seismic zone in 1935, is one of the five largest instrumentally recorded southeastern Canadian earthquakes. Previous studies of this earthquake concentrated on modeling teismograms recorded at regional distances, a better constrained focal mechanism is obtained. The waveforms indicate thrust faulting on a moderately dipping northwest striking plane at a depth of 10 km. TheM _w of 6.1 determined in this study is in good agreement with previous magnitude estimates (m _b 6.1,M _s 6.0, andm _bLg 6.2–6.3). The focal mechanism is similar to those of many recent small to moderate earthquakes in the region, and the inferred (from theP axis) acting stress of northeast compression is consistent with the overall eastern North American stress field. The Lake Timiskaming Rift Valley in which the earthquake occurred, comprises several northwest striking faults consistent with the strike of the 1935 event. Thus, the 1935 earthquake appears to be a result of faulting on the reactivated Timiskaming graben.     

广州近,现代史迹旅游资源开发探讨

近、现代史迹是广州历史文化名城重要的组成部分降主要标志,具有很高的旅游开发利用价值。本文阐明了近、现代史迹旅游资源在广州历史文化名城的突出地位,提出高起点,系列化重点开发干史迹专题景区,构建广州“近,现代史迹旅游中心”,把广州旅游业推向一个新的台阶,将广州建成“亚太地区国际旅游城市。