Italy is highly exposed to natural geological risks and a correct knowledge of the significant forcing to which key elements of the electrical system may be subjected is essential to guarantee its proper functioning, identify the risks and propose improving solutions.
The research activity described in this report is part of the general analyses carried out by RSE regarding the resilience of the electrical system against significant and extreme events, such as telluric phenomena. The objectives were achieved thanks to the activities, research and insights conducted over the entire three-year research period, which allowed for the creation of an IT tool with the aim of providing easy support in the definition of the seismological characterization of a site in a simple and fast way, with particular reference to the areas of interest for the national electrical system.
Thanks to this seismological application we can analyze various seismic catalogs of past and recent earthquakes, verify the danger of the site on the basis of official documents, and estimate the response spectra of the terrain and the intensities felt, with relationships valid for the Italian territory, for non-rigid soil at ground level, i.e. alluvial soil, with volume VS wave speed lower than 800 m/s. By carrying out this type of assessment a priori, it is possible to compare the results with what is established by the legislation to direct in-depth studies and analyses towards areas that potentially present greater criticality from a seismic point of view.
The application, implemented in a GIS system, GIS EQ (Geographic Information System EarthQuake), gathers in a single database many archives, earthquake catalogs and maps, which are constantly updated throughout the three-year research period. In fact, the database contains the most updated versions of the seismic catalogs (updated to 2021) and of the seismic classification map of the Italian territory (updated to April 2021).
The report describes the contents, applications, functions and outputs of the IT tool we created, which derive from different operations – and illustrates an example of seismological characterization on one of the areas analyzed by RSE and on which experimental investigation campaigns were carried out.