Notes from underground: Lisbon after the earthquake

The Lisbon earthquake of 1 November 1755 occupies a canonical place in eighteenth-century studies, yet surprisingly little attention has been paid to what the rebuilding of the city meant, both culturally and materially. This article looks at the reconstruction of Lisbon in terms of its political, religious and social meanings

Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks

This paper examines the unique role of cultural heritage in disaster risk reduction. Itintroduces various approaches to protect heritage from irreplaceable loss and considers ways to draw upon heritage as an asset in building the resilience of communities and nations to disasters. The paper proposes ways forward and builds on the current momentum provided by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters” (HFA) and the advancement of a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction (HFA2) and the post-2015 development agenda. Cultural heritage is often associated with grandiose monuments and iconic archaeological sites that can hold us in awe of their beauty, history and sheer scale. However, the understanding of cultural heritage has undergone a marked shift during the last few decades in terms of what it is, why it is important, why it is at risk and what can be done to protect it. Cultural heritage today encompasses a broader array of places such as historic cities, living cultural landscapes, gardens or sacred forests and mountains, technological or industrial achievements in the recent past and even sites associated with painful memories and war. Collections of movable and immoveable items within sites, museums, historic properties and archives have also increased significantly in scope, testifying not only to the lifestyles of royalty and the achievements of great artists, but also to the everyday lives of ordinary people. At the same time intangibles such as knowledge, beliefs and value systems are fundamental aspects of heritage that have a powerful influence on people’s daily choices and behaviors. Heritage is at risk due to disasters, conflict, climate change and a host of other factors.At the same time, cultural heritage is increasingly recognized as a driver of resilience that can support efforts to reduce disaster risks more broadly. Recent years have seen greater emphasis and commitment to protecting heritage and leveraging it for resilience;but initiatives, such as the few examples that are presented here, need to be encouraged and brought more fully into the mainstream of both disaster risk reduction and heritage management. These are issues that can be productively addressed in a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction and, likewise, in the post-2015 development agenda

Distinguishing damages from two earthquakes —Archaeoseismology of a Crusader castle (Al-Marqab citadel, Syria)

Damages from two major earthquakes are identified in medieval Al-Marqab citadel (Latin: Margat) in coastal Syria. Built by the Order of St. John (Hospitallers) in the twelfth–thirteenth centuries, the hilltop fortification has masonry walls made with and without mortar, using the opus caementum technology (Roman concrete). V-shaped and U-shaped failures, single-corner and symmetrical corner collapses, and in-plane shifts of ashlar masonry walls are identified and dated by historical and archaeological methods. The azimuth of displacement is NE-SW for the older damages of the Crusader period (A.D. 1170–1285), possibly related to the A.D. 1202 earthquake. A later, NW-SE displacement occurred during the Muslim period (post- 1285). The 1202 earthquake produced at least VIII intensity on the MSK scale at Al-Marqab, which is higher than previously considered

3D and 4D Simulations for Landscape Reconstruction and Damage Scenarios. GIS Pilot Applications

The project 3D and 4D Simulations for Landscape Reconstruction and Damage Scenarios: GIS Pilot Applications has been devised with the intention to deal with the demand for research, innovation and applicative methodology on the part of the international programme, requiring concrete results to increase the capacity to know, anticipate and respond to a natural disaster. This project therefore sets out to develop an experimental methodology, a wide geodatabase, a connected performant GIS platform and multifunctional scenarios able to profitably relate the added values deriving from different geotechnologies, aimed at a series of crucial steps regarding landscape reconstruction, event simulation, damage evaluation, emergency management, multi-temporal analysis. The Vesuvius area has been chosen for the pilot application owing to such an impressive number of people and buildings subject to volcanic risk that one could speak in terms of a possible national disaster. The steps of the project move around the following core elements: creation of models that reproduce the territorial and anthropic structure of the past periods, and reconstruction of the urbanized area, with temporal distinctions; three-dimensional representation of the Vesuvius area in terms of infrastructuralresidential aspects; GIS simulation of the expected event; first examination of the healthcareepidemiological consequences; educational proposals. This paper represents a proactive contribution which describes the aims of the project, the steps which constitute a set of specific procedures for the methodology which we are experimenting, and some thoughts regarding the geodatabase useful to “package” illustrative elaborations. Since the involvement of the population and adequate hazard preparedness are very important aspects, some educational and communicational considerations are presented in connection with the use of geotechnologies to promote the knowledge of risk

Estimation of losses for adobe buildings in Pakistan

Adobe buildings are vulnerable to seismic forces. Large scale destructions and casualties have been caused due to the collapse of adobe buildings during the past earthquakes. A significant number of adobe structures exist in different parts of Pakistan, similar to other parts of the world. Since Pakistan lies in a seismic active region, it is necessary to assess the level of vulnerability of these buildings in order to estimate associated losses during a seismic event. This paper presents the results of a study which was conducted to quantify damages to adobe buildings based on their fragility curves. The adobe buildings were found to be highly vulnerable to low intensity earthquakes. The vulnerability of these buildings has been compared with the European adobe buildings. It was noted that Pakistani adobe buildings were slightly less resistant to earthquakes as compared to similar buildings in Europe. Retrofitting solutions were suggested in order to increase the seismic capacity of adobe buildings in Pakistan

Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

Archaeoseismic research contributes important data on past earthquakes. A limitation of the usefulness of archaeoseismology is due to the lack of continuous discussion about the methodology. The methodological issues are particularly important because archaeoseismological investigations of past earthquakes make use of a large variety of methods. Typical in situ investigations include: (1) reconstruction of the local archaeological stratigraphy aimed at defining the correct position and chronology of a destruction layer, presumably related to an earthquake; (2) analysis of the deformations potentially due to seismic shaking or secondary earthquake effects, detectable on walls; (3) analysis of the depositional characteristics of the collapsed material; (4) investigations of the local geology and geomorphology to define possible natural cause(s) of the destruction; (5) investigations of the local factors affecting the ground motion amplifications; and (6) estimation of the dynamic excitation, which affected the site under investigation. Subsequently, a 'territorial' approach testing evidence of synchronous destruction in a certain region may delineate the extent of the area struck by the earthquake. The most reliable results of an archaeoseismological investigation are obtained by application of modern geoarchaeological practice (archaeological stratigraphy plus geological–geomorphological data), with the addition of a geophysical-engineering quantitative approach and (if available) historical information. This gives a basic dataset necessary to perform quantitative analyses which, in turn, corroborate the archaeoseismic hypothesis. Since archaeoseismological investigations can reveal the possible natural causes of destruction at a site, they contribute to the wider field of environmental archaeology, that seeks to define the history of the relationship between humans and the environment. Finally, through the improvement of the knowledge on the past seismicity, these studies can contribute to the regional estimation of seismic hazard

Dynamic models to reconstruct ancient landscapes

In this paper a method of landscape analysis is demonstrated through raster-based digital elevation models (DEM) using the case-study of the Helike Delta, Gulf of Corinth, Greece. In the Classical Period, Helike was the seat of the Achaean League and the worship centre of the god Helikonian Poseidon. With the focus on the earthquake and tsunami of 373BC, DEMs are generated using dynamic models of sea level rise, tectonic and pulse tectonic uplift, sub-sidence, and sediment deposition. Starting with a DEM from the present day landscape, simulated DEM models are generated for the Early Helladic II/III (2500-2100BC), Classical (480-323BC), Hellenistic (323-146 BC), and Roman (1st Century BC – 4th Century AD Periods). The models shed light on archaeological interpretation concerning the continuity and discontinuity of human occupation in the Helike Delta. Moreover, the method demonstrates a new approach to dynamic landscape analysis using GIS that is general and can be applied to any landscape. Keywords: GIS, dynamic models, raster-based DEM, landscape analysis, geomorphology, geoarchaeology, Helike Delt

The city when it trembles. Earthquake destructions, post-earthquake reconstructions and grid configuration

Two different (yet tightly connected and complementary) wide issues appear to crisscross in this research. The first one is the general question of urban resilience, assumed in its relational meaning: the capacity of an urban system, thanks to the features of its spatial elements, to take abruptly imposed transformations, without significantly changing their mutual relations and hence the whole urban geography: and the transformation imposed by an earthquake (its destruction as well as the successive reconstruction) are undoubtedly sudden and abrupt. A discussion will hence be aimed at determining some configurational parameters, suitable for reproducing the capability of a spatial system to sustain sudden changes and yet to retain its inner working mechanisms. The second theme more specifically concerns the matter of earthquakes, and will here be aimed at investigating the effect of a seismic event on the inner geography of an urban settlement, thus verifying on several case studies the effects of an earthquake as well as the reliability of space syntax to describe their actual resilience. Summing all up, this paper aims at pinpointing the configurational features, if any, suitable for reproducing and accounting for the level of resilience a settlement is provided with, and - afterwards - at testing them on urban cases actually affected by earthquake destructions. The main case study here assumed is the settlement of L’Aquila, in Italy, with reference to the devastating earthquake of April, 6th 2009. The configuration analysis has been applied to the spatial consistencies respectively referred to three distinct phases: - beforetheearthquake; - soonaftertheearthquake(temporary,butstillpresentsituation); - after the earthquake, definitive (yet distant to come) situation, including the forthcoming reconstruction of the perished areas and the new development areas (at L’Aquila, the so-called ‘CASE’ project). Some significant outcome can be drawn. First, this approach allows highlighting the dramatic transformation an earthquake, like other natural disasters, is likely to cause to the inner geography of a settlement, upsetting the distribution of movement flows and the levels of attractiveness and centrality. Even more, the configurational analysis will reveal the likely effects the reconstruction and rehabilitation plans and projects on the variables of the urban system, over and above the fulfilment of recovery claim and the housing supplying. More in general, it will report the far-reaching and long-lasting relevance of urban plans worked out in emergency situation, under the pressure of need and urgency. On such basis, the method is here proposed as a suitable tool for supporting and orienting the temporary (yet often enduring) post-earthquake phase as well as the successive reconstruction planning

Reducing the seismic vulnerability of cultural heritage buildings

European-Indian Economic Cross Cultural Programme - contract n.º ALA-95-23-2003-077-122

Traditional Wooden Buildings in China

Chinese ancient architecture, with its long history, unique systematic features and wide-spread employment as well as its abundant heritages, is a valuable legacy of the whole world. Due to the particularity of the material and structure of Chinese ancient architecture, relatively research results are mostly published in Chinese, which limits international communication. On account of the studies carried out in Nanjing Forestry University and many other universities and teams, this chapter emphatically introduces the development, structural evolution and preservation of traditional Chinese wooden structure; research status focuses on material properties, decay pattern, anti-seismic performance and corresponding conservation and reinforcement technologies of the main load-bearing members in traditional Chinese wooden structure