Modern Perspectives in Historical Seismology

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Geophysics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 October 2022) | Viewed by 6799

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, sezione di Sismologia e Tettonofisica, via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 Rome, Italy
Interests: active tectonics; geology of earthquakes; coseismic hydrogeological changes; historical seismology and macroseismology

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Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sezione di Sismologia e Tettonofisica , Roma, Italy
Interests: historical seismology; European macroseismic scale; seismic hazard; active tectonics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The primary commitment of historical seismology (a term coined in 1988 by J. Vogt) is to expand the knowledge of seismicity as far back in time as possible. However, in recent decades, historical seismology has been definitively establishing itself as a fundamental scientific discipline in which the retrieval of data concerning past earthquakes, mainly based on historical methods, provides a pivotal input to a number of fields belonging to the broader branch of seismology. Historical data reveal essential tools for the study of individual earthquakes and enrich the seismic catalogues, define the seismic history of an area, frame a seismic event in the seismotectonics of a region, and determine valuable earthquake parameters for seismic hazard evaluation.

In this Special Issue of Geosciences we want to present an extensive review of the possible applications of the studies in historical seismology and to help readers to understand the potential of historical earthquake data. Therefore, we welcome all contributions dealing with the use of historical earthquake databases, reappraisal and intensity assessment of pre-instrumental seismic events, case studies on multidisciplinary approaches with the use of historical data, the evaluation of seismic damage on monumental and ancient structures, and seismotectonic analyses based on historical earthquakes and documentary sources research.

Dr. Luigi Cucci
Dr. Andrea Tertulliani
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 5461 KiB  
Article
Reappraisal of Data of Hydrological Changes Associated with Some Strong Historical Italian Earthquakes
by Corrado Castellano, Luigi Cucci and Andrea Tertulliani
Geosciences 2023, 13(2), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13020055 - 10 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1629
Abstract
Historical seismology retrieves information about the effects of earthquakes that occurred in the past, mostly regarding the damage, but also on environmental effects. In this paper, we describe the methodology of our research on earthquake-induced hydrological effects, which have been long observed and [...] Read more.
Historical seismology retrieves information about the effects of earthquakes that occurred in the past, mostly regarding the damage, but also on environmental effects. In this paper, we describe the methodology of our research on earthquake-induced hydrological effects, which have been long observed and documented, and are among the most outstanding coseismic phenomena. The method of research follows two distinct paths, depending on whether the investigated event occurred before or after the end of the 18th Century. For the most ancient events, we present examples of historical accounts, local reports, private letters, and diaries, in which the information of interest is often hidden within broader descriptions and mentioned as a minor curiosity. On the contrary, for more recent earthquakes, the research benefits from the growing interest in naturalistic observations that marked the onset of the 19th Century, and is achieved through detailed descriptions, journals, seismic postcards, and through the first systematic collections of instrumental data. Finally, we describe a possible method of classification of the hydrological data and show an analysis of the potential applications and outcomes of this type of research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Perspectives in Historical Seismology)
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15 pages, 4565 KiB  
Article
A Reappraisal of the Destructive Earthquake (Mw5.9) of 15 July 1909 in Western Greece
by Ioanna Triantafyllou, Ioannis Koukouvelas, Gerassimos A. Papadopoulos and Efthymios Lekkas
Geosciences 2022, 12(10), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12100374 - 10 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2341
Abstract
Studies on earthquakes that occurred in the early instrumental period of seismology are of importance for the seismic hazard assessment and are still under investigation since new data are being increasingly revealed. We study the case of a moderate-to-strong earthquake that occurred on [...] Read more.
Studies on earthquakes that occurred in the early instrumental period of seismology are of importance for the seismic hazard assessment and are still under investigation since new data are being increasingly revealed. We study the case of a moderate-to-strong earthquake that occurred on 15 July 1909 in NW Peloponnese, Greece. Although the earthquake event was quite destructive, it remains little-known so far in the seismological tradition. We compiled a variety of documentary sources and showed that the earthquake caused extensive building destruction in Chavari and in many other villages with an estimated maximum intensity IX (in EMS-98 scale) and a death toll as high as 55. We also assigned macroseismic intensities in several observation points and drew isoseismal lines by applying the nearest-neighbor technique. From empirical relationships between magnitude and intensities, we estimated the macroseismic magnitude of proxy Ms5.9. Our examination also revealed a variety of earthquake associated phenomena including several types of precursors and abundant co-seismic hydrological changes and ground failures, such as soil liquefaction, surface ruptures, and rock falls. Since no surface fault-trace was reported, the determination of the causative blind fault remains an open issue for future investigation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Perspectives in Historical Seismology)
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12 pages, 1950 KiB  
Article
Revisiting Svenskby, Southeastern Finland: Communications Regarding Low-Magnitude Earthquakes in 1751–1752
by Päivi B. Mäntyniemi
Geosciences 2022, 12(9), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12090338 - 12 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2029
Abstract
This investigation examines the contemporary documentation of a sequence of low-magnitude earthquakes at the fringes of the Kingdom of Sweden, today Southeastern Finland, in 1751–1752. A total of 11 pages of original correspondence sent from the target village of Svenskby to the Swedish [...] Read more.
This investigation examines the contemporary documentation of a sequence of low-magnitude earthquakes at the fringes of the Kingdom of Sweden, today Southeastern Finland, in 1751–1752. A total of 11 pages of original correspondence sent from the target village of Svenskby to the Swedish capital Stockholm are reviewed. Newspaper accounts from Sweden and Russia are included in the analysis, and a timeline of the reporting is constructed. A newly created catalog shows over 30 distinct events between the end of October and December 1751 (Julian calendar). The assignment of macroseismic intensity to the earthquakes is hampered by loud acoustic effects that accompany and/or constitute the observations. Maximum intensities are assessed at IV–V (European Macroseismic Scale 1998), and maximum macroseismic magnitudes in the range of MM1.9–2.4, and were probably observed at short epicentral distances close to the ground surface. Comparisons to macroseismic data related to instrumentally recorded earthquakes in the region support the notion of low magnitudes. The data from 1751 provide an analog to modern macroseismic observations from geothermal stimulation experiments. Such experiments have acted as a spur for considering seismic risk from low-magnitude earthquakes whose consequences have seldom previously been a matter for concern. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Perspectives in Historical Seismology)
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