The principal objective is to reduce the seismic risk and an improved seismic safety in Bucharest, the capital City of Romania.

The evaluation and mitigation of the seismic risk is one of the permanent and urgent problems facing the Romanian society, equally implying work of seismologists, geologists and engineers. Significant efforts were made to predict the peak values and spectral characteristics of the strong motion in large urban areas, like Bucharest. At the same time, important efforts were made to determine the site effects and microzonation maps for the same city.

Every damaging earthquake demonstrates the importance of the local site effects and their worsening of the damage and economic losses. Another open problem is the correct definition of the local site effect and the possibility to control it to a certain degree. The experience gained of some recent earthquakes (Kobe, Loma Prieta, Mexico, etc.) shows the importance of quantifying the physical parameters of the local site and other local conditions which can affect the severity of ground shaking that a site may experience.

            A number of studies have significantly contributed to the establishing of the response spectra to be used in connection with the large intermediate-depth earthquakes generated by the Vrancea region of Romania and the existing European Building Code Eurocode 8 was critically reviewed and improvements were suggested to orient it to the Carpatho-Balkan region and to Romania (Code 100/2006).

            The principal objectives of the program are among the objectives of The National Strategic Program for The Management of Seismic Risk (HG. No. 372/18 martie 2004) and it represent the objectives of national interest which are contributing to certain research directions such as:

The map of the local hazard (microzonation); the map of the seismic hazard of Romania; Shake map for Romania; near real time alarming system.

          The results of the project will determine directly the zonation and microzonation of the Romanian territory and will offer a strong base to the maps of the intensity of the ground motion immediately after a strong earthquake.

Objectives

Our main objective is earthquake risk mitigation and better seismic safety of Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

1.      As there is a major gap in knowledge concerning seismic and geotechnical parameters in the shallow

(< 50 m), unconsolidated soil and sediment layers, 8  new boreholes  will be performed in the central part of Bucharest area as part of a new international NATO Science for Peace project.

By conducting seismic in situ measurements in the boreholes and geotechnical analysis of the core samples, we want to determine elastic and dynamic parameters of soils and rocks.

2. These elastic and dynamic parameters will be used as input for linear and non-linear waveform modelling to estimated the seismic amplitude amplification at specific sites in Bucharest. These modelled waveforms will be compared and calibrated with observations from seismic stations in the city.

3. The results from the site-effect analysis will be gathered in an updated seismic microzonation map of Bucharest which will be disseminated to the public and especially to the end-users who will introduce our results in the future city planing and in retrofitting of existing buildings.