Historical earthquake investigations in Greece

The active tectonics of the area of Greece and its seismic activity have always been present in the country’s history. Many researchers, tempted to work on Greek historical earthquakes, have realized that this is a task not easily fulfilled. The existing catalogues of strong historical earthquakes are useful tools to perform general SHA studies. However, a variety of supporting datasets, non-uniformly distributed in space and time, need to be further investigated. In the present paper, a review of historical earthquake studies in Greece is attempted. The seismic history of the country is divided into four main periods. In each one of them, characteristic examples, studies and approaches are presented

The University of Athens Hellenic Macroseismic Database (HMDB.UoA): Historical earthquakes

A systematic study of historical earthquakes leading to the quantification of earthquake effects in terms of macroseismic data points (MDPs) and, consequently, earthquake parameters has been carried out in the last decade at the Laboratory of Seismology of the University of Athens. For each earthquake, the available background information was evaluated and the corresponding macroseismic intensities assessed in terms of the European Macroseismic Scale 1998. A considerable amount of these MDPs contributed to the Archive of Historical Earthquake Data inventory through European initiatives (NERIES and SHARE). Based on the structure of the European Database, the local version of the Hellenic Macroseismic Database (HMDB.UoA) was designed incorporating historical earthquakes of the period 1000-1899 from the eastern Aegean area, central Greece and Ionian Islands. In its present form, the HMDB.UoA includes 90 events with I max ≥ 7 (868 MDPs) and 1,088 events with I max < 7 (1,273 MDPs). The database is hosted on the website http://macroseismology.geol.uoa.gr/. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Historical earthquake investigations in Greece

The active tectonics of the area of Greece and its seismic activity have always been present in the countrys history. Many researchers, tempted to work on Greek historical earthquakes, have realized that this is a task not easily fulfilled. The existing catalogues of strong historical earthquakes are useful tools to perform general SHA studies. However, a variety of supporting datasets, non-uniformly distributed in space and time, need to be further investigated. In the present paper, a review of historical earthquake studies in Greece is attempted. The seismic history of the country is divided into four main periods. In each one of them, characteristic examples, studies and approaches are presented.PublishedJCR Journalope

Comparing calibration coefficients constrained from early to recent macroseismic and instrumental earthquake data in Greece and applied to eighteenth century earthquakes

The purpose of this paper is to determine calibration constants of instrumental Greek earthquakes in order to calculate the basic seismic parameters of historical earthquakes (magnitude, epicenter, focal depth) via macroseismic data. Two different approaches are adopted for calibration procedure. The first implements the macroseismic estimation of earthquake parameters (MEEP procedure) and is based on macroseismic data points (MDPs). The second approach calculates macroseismic magnitude based on isoseismal areas, using both linear and multiple regression techniques. The datasets used for analysis comprise of 121 instrumental earthquakes with 7247 MDPs and 123 isoseismal maps. Validation of the results is performed using six instrumental earthquakes in order to verify the calibration parameters. Finally, calibration constants are successfully applied for parameters calculation of eight eighteenth century events. Thus, the application of the results to historical earthquakes contributes to the improvement of the seismic picture of Greece. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V

An updated and extended earthquake catalogue for Greece and adjacent areas since 1900

A homogeneous earthquake catalogue for Greece and adjacent areas covering the period 1900-2009 is presented, to be used for reliable seismic hazard studies. The catalogues of Makropoulos and Burton (1981) and Makropoulos et al. (1989), covering the time span 1900-1985, were updated for the period 1986-2009 using instrumentally determined focal coordinates, except for the magnitude from the bulletin of the ISC. For M s, which is the magnitude scale included in the previous versions, the same procedure applied since 1964 was adopted, using the ISC body wave magnitude (m b) and a regression equation. In the present update, M w is also calculated for the entire period 1900-2009 using a formula derived from all available moment magnitudes and directly determined by the moment tensor inversion method. Thus, a magnitude homogeneous catalogue concerning both M s and M w scales is presented. The extended catalogue contains 7352 events, 70% more than the 4310 events of the previous published (1989) version. The completeness test revealed that the catalogue is complete for magnitudes above 4 for the last 34 yr and that no earthquake with magnitude 6 or greater has been omitted in the whole instrumental era (1900-2009). © Author(s) 2012

An updated and extended earthquake catalogue for Greece and adjacent areas since 1900

A homogeneous earthquake catalogue for Greece and adjacent areas covering the period 1900–2009 is presented, to be used for reliable seismic hazard studies. The catalogues of Makropoulos and Burton (1981) and Makropoulos et al. (1989), covering the time span 1900–1985, were updated for the period 1986–2009 using instrumentally determined focal coordinates, except for the magnitude from the bulletin of the ISC. For <i>M</i><sub>s</sub>, which is the magnitude scale included in the previous versions, the same procedure applied since 1964 was adopted, using the ISC body wave magnitude (<i>m</i><sub>b</sub>) and a regression equation. In the present update, <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> is also calculated for the entire period 1900–2009 using a formula derived from all available moment magnitudes and directly determined by the moment tensor inversion method. Thus, a magnitude homogeneous catalogue concerning both <i>M</i><sub>s</sub> and <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> scales is presented. The extended catalogue contains 7352 events, 70% more than the 4310 events of the previous published (1989) version. The completeness test revealed that the catalogue is complete for magnitudes above 4 for the last 34 yr and that no earthquake with magnitude 6 or greater has been omitted in the whole instrumental era (1900–2009)

Modeling landslide susceptibility in Greece: a weighted linear combination approach using analytic hierarchical process, validated with spatial and statistical analysis

A new model for Greece depicting, at a national scale, the spatial distribution of areas prone to landslide phenomena, taking into account preparatory and triggering criteria, is presented. This is a baseline study for prioritizing research in hazardous areas with more detail. Landslide occurrence is very high in certain areas of the Greek territory, such as Western Greece. Analysis is performed by applying two models, both based on slopes and geotechnical data, earthquake occurrence and precipitation. The first, which yields better results, also takes into account land use data. Since there was no access to landslide inventories, landslide susceptibility was performed on empirical estimates of the aforementioned criteria, using the analytic hierarchy process in order to derive the proper weights for each criterion. The final outcome is calculated based on the weighted linear combination of the above-mentioned criteria. The present study covers the area of Greece with an accuracy of 500 m × 500 m grid cell size. Results have been validated with observed events, landsliding urban areas and other studies, thus identifying landslide prone areas in a satisfying manner. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Simulation of macroseismic field in Central Greece

The distribution of seismic intensity is generally influenced by major geological and tectonic features and, on a smaller scale, by local geological conditions, such as the type of surface soil, the surface-to-bedrock soil structure in sedimentary basins and the depth of the saturated zone, The present paper attempted to determine the distribution of macroseismic intensities based on published attenuation laws in the area of Central Greece, using the epicentral intensity, magnitude, length and direction of fault and a considerable number of observation sites, for which the above mentioned information is available, The expected intensity values were then compared to those observed in the same sites, from four earthquakes in Volos, Central Greece, for which the fault plane solutions are also known. The deviations of the observed values from the theoretical model were then related to the local geological conditions and the corresponding correction factor determined for each site

The Gonnoi (NE Thessaly - Greece) earthquake (June 2003, Ms=5.5) and the neotectonic regime of Lower Olympus

On June 9, 2003 (10:07 L.T), northern Thessaly (central Greece) was shaken by a moderate size earthquake (MS=5.5; NOA). Dozens of buildings in the area of southern Mt Olympus were damaged and the shock was felt throughout Thessaly, central and western Macedonia, Thessaloniki and the Sporades islands. No victims were reported. The macroseismic intensity was assessed at 6/7EMS-98. The purpose of this paper is to present and combine the instrumental earthquake parameters to the results of a geological/tectonic and a macroseismic survey, carried out soon after the earthquake, in an effort for a better understanding of the recent tectonic process that takes place in this area