Resource allocation for regional earthquake risk mitigation: a case study of Tehran,Iran

This paper presents a new optimization model to help cities in seismically active developing countries decide (1) How much to spend on pre-earthquake mitigation versus waiting until after an event and paying for reconstruction or simply not rebuilding damaged buildings? (2) Which buildings to mitigate and how? and (3) Which buildings to reconstruct and how? It extends previously developed optimization models to consider the particular issues that arise in such countries. First, the model allows for the possibility that some damaged buildings will not be reconstructed immediately and keeps track of any lost building inventory. Second, buildings can be mitigated to, or when damaged, reconstructed to, any appropriate structural type and seismic design level. Finally, the model objectives include minimizing the chance of an extremely high death toll in any one earthquake and minimizing the average annual death toll across earthquakes. The model is illustrated through a case study analysis for Tehran, Iran.     

A site evaluation campaign for a ground based atmospheric Cherenkov telescope in Romania

Around the world, several scientific projects share the interest of a global network of small Cherenkov telescopes for monitoring observations of the brightest blazars??the DWARF network. A small, ground based, imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of last generation is intended to be installed and operated in Romania as a component of the DWARF network. To prepare the construction of the observatory, two support projects have been initiated. Within the framework of these projects, we have assessed a number of possible sites where to settle the observatory. In this paper we submit a brief report on the general characteristics of the best four sites selected after the local infrastructure, the nearby facilities and the social impact criteria have been applied.     

Morphology and environmental impact of the Colţi–Aluniş landslide (Curvature Carpathians), Romania

The May–August 2005 heavy rainstorm events in Romania triggered a large number of geomorphic hazards of great magnitude, consisting of primarily floods and landslides. Some of the most affected regions were the Curvature Carpathians and Subcarpathians. This paper addresses the effects of rainfall on slopes, especially in the middle sector of the Sibiciu basin (the Buzău Carpathians) outlining the significant landslide damage along the road connecting the Colţi and Aluniş villages. The landslides are analyzed in terms of geologic, geomorphic and engineering geologic features, focusing on the Colţi–Aluniş landslide which had the greatest impact on the road displacement. The related environmental and social impacts are also discussed.     

Macroseismic field of the October 27, 2004 Vrancea (Romania) moderate subcrustal earthquake

On October 27, 2004, a moderate size earthquake occurred in the Vrancea seismogenic region (Romania). The Vrancea seismic zone is an area of concentrated seismicity at intermediate depths beneath the bending area of the southeastern Carpathians. The 2004 M _w?=?6 Vrancea subcrustal earthquake is the largest seismic event recorded in Romania since the 1990 earthquakes. With a maximum macroseismic intensity of VII Medvedev–Sponheuer–Kárník (MSK-64) scale, the seismic event was felt to a distance of 600 km from the epicentre. This earthquake caused no serious damage and human injuries. The main purpose of this paper is to present the macroseismic map of the earthquake based on the MSK-64 intensity scale. After the evaluation of the macroseismic effects of this earthquake, an intensity dataset has been obtained for 475 sites in the Romanian territory. Also, the maximum horizontal accelerations recorded in the area by the K2 network are compared to the intensity values.     

Macroseismic intensity attenuation for crustal sources on romanian territory and adjacent areas

The macroseismic intensity attenuation (m.i.a.) laws for the main seismic provinces with crustal foci of the Romanian territory and adjacent areas were established. The input data consist of MSK-64 intensities of 18 earthquakes with epicentral/maximum intensity in the range V to X degrees (MSK scale), whose isoseismal maps were available.The attenuation was analyzed as a function of distance and azimuth and from the three main attenuation formulas (logarithmic, exponential, and power-law) (the last one was preferred, as it best fits the observed data) and, consequently, were used for each seismogenic region. The bulk of derived equations is intended to be further used in the assessment of the seismic hazards of Romania.     

Performance-based assessment of earthquake-induced catastrophic landslide hazard in liquefiable soils

This paper outlines a methodology for evaluating the likelihood of catastrophic landslide occurrence on gentle slopes in liquefiable soils during earthquake. The approach is based on a modified Newmark sliding block model of assessing the earthquake-induced undrained landslide displacements for conditions of no shear stress reversals on the sliding surface. By employing the shear resistance-displacement relationship from undrained monotonic ring shear tests, the simulation model incorporates the sensitivity of computed displacements to variations in yield acceleration. The proposed approach involves an examination of undrained seismic slope performance under various horizontal seismic waveforms scaled to different specific values of the peak earthquake acceleration. An example problem illustrates how the proposed methodology may be used to demarcate, based on the magnitude of permanent seismic displacement, the levels of low, moderate and high risk of catastrophic landslide on a gentle slope in a saturated cohesionless soil susceptible to liquefaction during earthquake.     

Seismic Retrofit of Gravity Retaining Walls for Residential Fills Using Ground Anchors

Failure of several gravity retaining walls in residential areas built on reclaimed land, during the October 23, 2004 Chuetsu earthquake in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, determined the authorities to consider the seismic retrofit of the walls in order to mitigate future similar disasters in the urban environment. This study addresses the effectiveness of ground anchors in improving the seismic performance of such retaining structures through a sliding block analysis of the seismic response of an anchored gravity retaining wall supporting a dry homogeneous fill slope subject to horizontal ground shaking. Sliding failure along the base of the wall and translational failure along a planar slip surface of the active wedge within the fill material behind the wall were considered in the formulation, whereas the anchor load was taken as a line load acting on the face of the gravity retaining wall. The effects of magnitude and orientation of anchor load on the yield acceleration of the wall-backfill system and seismically induced wall displacements were examined. It was found that for the same anchor orientation, the yield acceleration increases in a quasi-linear manner with increasing the anchor load, whereas an anchor load of a given magnitude acting at various orientations produces essentially identical yield accelerations. On the other hand, the computed earthquake-induced permanent displacements of the anchored gravity retaining wall decrease exponentially with increasing magnitude of anchor load. Additionally, the influence of backfill strength properties (e.g., internal friction angle) on the seismic wall displacement appears to diminish considerably for the anchored gravity retaining wall. A dynamic displacement analysis conducted for the anchored gravity retaining wall subjected to various seismic waveforms scaled to the same peak earthquake acceleration revealed a good correlation between the calculated permanent wall displacements and the Arias intensity parameter characterizing the input accelerogram.     

Extragalactic Gamma Ray Excess from Coma Supercluster Direction

The origin of extragalactic diffuse gamma ray is not accurately known, especially because our suggestions are related to many models that need to be considered either to compute the galactic diffuse gamma ray intensity or to consider the contribution of other extragalactic structures while surveying a specific portion of the sky. More precise analysis of EGRET data however, makes it possible to estimate the diffuse gamma ray in Coma supercluster (i.e., Coma\\backslash A1367 supercluster) direction with a value of $I\left( {E>{30}\,{\rm MeV}} \right)\simeq{1.9}\times {10}^{-{6}} {\rm cm}^{-{2}} {\rm s}^{-{1}}$I\left( {E>{30}\,{\rm MeV}} \right)\simeq{1.9}\times {10}^{-{6}} {\rm cm}^{-{2}} {\rm s}^{-{1}} , which is considered to be an upper limit for the diffuse gamma ray due to Coma supercluster. The related total intensity (on average) is calculated to be ~5% of the actual diffuse extragalactic background. The calculated intensity makes it possible to estimate the origin of extragalactic diffuse gamma ray.     

Earthquake-induced displacements of gravity retaining walls and anchor-reinforced slopes

This paper examines in terms of seismic performance, the effectiveness of anchor reinforcement against gravity retaining walls used to stabilize a dry homogenous fill slope in earthquake-prone environment. Both analyzed stabilizing measures have the same design yield acceleration estimated from a limit equilibrium approach. The earthquake-induced displacements are calculated using a sliding block formulation of the equation of motion. Sliding failure along the base of the gravity retaining wall and rotational failure of the soil active wedge behind the wall, as well as rotational failure of the slide mass of the anchor-reinforced slope were considered in the present formulation. For the specific characteristics of the analyzed fill slope and input horizontal ground motion, the slope reinforced with anchors appears to experience vertical and horizontal seismic displacements at slope crest smaller by 12% and respectively, 32% than the vertical and horizontal earthquake-induced deformations estimated at the top of the active wedge behind the gravity retaining wall.     

Yielding mechanism of shallow mass movements in completely decomposed Norwood Tuff: the Zigzag Sign landslide,Utah

Over the past decade, land development activities on hillsides in northern Utah have resulted in a significant increase in landslide activity throughout the region. The majority of recent landslides are shallow and they occurred on cut gentle slopes especially during spring and early summer due to snowmelt induced elevated groundwater tables. The geologic material documented at numerous landslide sites is a soft gray-green completely decomposed Norwood Tuff. The present study addresses the mechanism of a shallow landslide in completely decomposed Norwood Tuff based on field, laboratory and numerical investigations. Detailed slope surface geometry obtained from laser-scan surveys together with strength and stress–strain parameters derived from laboratory triaxial tests on undisturbed samples of completely decomposed Norwood Tuff collected from the landslide site are employed with finite-element modeling to examine the effects of ground surface deformation patterns on the yielding behavior of the slide mass. The numerical results indicate a gradual retreat of the yield zone with progressive landslide deformation, which eventually becomes concentrated within the accumulation zone of the landslide, compared to a well-developed yield zone within the entire slide mass at the onset of landslide movement. Limit equilibrium stability analyses along potential sliding surfaces of extent limited within the yield zone of the displaced slide mass produce lower safety factors than an analysis based on the original sliding surface comprising the entire slide mass.