Simone Barani

• Geology
• Researcher at University of Genoa

In this work, a simple physics-informed stochastic earthquake catalog simulator is presented for the modeling of long memory on a single fault (or crustal volume). The simulation combines the fundamental statistical laws of seismology (i.e., the Gutenberg-Richter law and the exponential distribution of inter-event times of spontaneous events) with...

Selection of accelerometric time histories is a fundamental step in seismic microzonation studies as well as in structural and ground response analyses. In this study, we propose an update of the procedure of Mascandola et al. (2020) for record selection in vast areas, which is based on cluster analysis of seismic hazard data to identify zones (cal...

In this study, we defined screening maps for Italy that classify sites based on their potential for triggering landslides. To this end, we analyzed seismic hazard maps and hazard disaggregation results on a national scale considering four spectral periods (0.01 s, 0.2 s, 0.5 s, and 1.0 s) and three return periods (475, 975, and 2475 years). First,...

The micro-electromechanical system (MEMS)-based seismic network of Trentino (NE Italy) consists of 73 low-cost accelerometers installed close to inhabited areas. These sensors have a suitable sensitivity to detect moderate-to-strong earthquakes but are able to record even weaker seismicity. The densely distributed peak ground acceleration values re...

In this study, we define screening maps for Italy that classify sites based on their potential for triggering landslides. To this end, we analyze seismic hazard maps and hazard disaggregation results on a national scale considering four spectral periods (0.01s, 0.2s, 0.5s, and 1.0s) and three return periods (475, 975, and 2475 years). First, joint...

The MEMS-based seismic network of Trentino (NE Italy) consists of 76 low-cost accelerometers installed close to inhabited areas. These sensors have a suitable sensitivity to detect moderate-to-strong earthquakes but are able to record even weaker seismicity. The densely distributed peak ground acceleration values recorded by MEMS and other types of...

In this note, we study the distribution of earthquake numbers in both worldwide and regional catalogs: in the Global Centroid Moment Tensor catalog, from 1980 to 2019 for magnitudes Mw 5. 5+ and 6.5+ in the first case, and in the Italian instrumental catalog from 1960 to 2021 for magnitudes Mw 4.0+ and 5.5+ in the second case. A subset of the globa...

In the present study, we analyze ground-motion hazard maps and hazard disaggregation in order to define areas in Italy where liquefaction triggering due to seismic activity can not be excluded. To this end, we refer to the triggering criteria (not to be confused with liquefaction susceptibility criteria, which essentially take into account soil typ...

We present a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) for the entire Po Plain sedimentary basin (Italy)—one of the widest Quaternary alluvial basins of Europe, to evaluate the impact of site-response characterization on hazard estimates. A large-scale application of approach 3 of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to include seismic a...

In the present study, we analyze ground-motion hazard maps and hazard disaggregation in order to define areas in Italy where liquefaction triggering due to seismic activity can not be excluded. To this end, we refer to the triggering criteria proposed by the Italian Guidelines for Seismic Microzonation, which are described in the main body of the m...

Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is one of the most powerful tools for identifying and monitoring areas exposed to surface deformations such as landslides or subsidence. In this work, we propose a new method that we named CAPS (Correlation Analysis on Persistent Scatterers), to extend the capability of PSI in recognizing and characterising...

Landslides are a major threat for population and urban areas. Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is a powerful tool for identifying landslides and monitoring their evolution over long periods and has proven to be very useful especially in urban areas, where a sufficient number of PS can be generated. In this study, we applied PS interferomet...

In recent years, new approaches for developing earthquake rupture forecasts (ERFs) have been proposed to be used as an input for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). Zone-based approaches with seismicity rates derived from earthquake catalogs are commonly used in many countries as the standard for national seismic hazard models. In Italy...

This study investigates and quantifies the influence of the shallower deposits (down to few hundreds of meters) of the Po Plain sedimentary basin (northern Italy) on the long-period component (i.e., 1 s<T<3 s) of seismic ground motion, in which amplification effects due to the soft sediments above seismic bedrock were observed. A new seismostratigr...

The present study aims at proving the existence of long memory (or long-range dependence) in the earthquake process through the analysis of time series of induced seismicity. Specifically, we apply alternative statistical techniques borrowed from econometrics to the seismic catalog of The Geysers geothermal field (California), the world’s largest g...

Microseisms are used to estimate significant sea wave heights (Hs) in different parts of the world and also during extreme events (e.g., typhoons and hurricanes), as they are generated by the effect of sea waves on the sea bottom and are strictly related to the wave height. On 29 October 2018, an exceptional sea storm event (the Adrian storm) occur...

This paper describes the seismological analyses performed within the framework of the seismic microzonation study for the reconstruction of 138 municipalities damaged by the 2016–2017 sequence in Central Italy. Many waveforms were recorded over approximately 15 years at approximately 180 instrumented sites equipped with permanent or temporary stati...

We present a methodology for the selection of accelerometric time histories as input for dynamic response analyses over vast areas. The method is primarily intended for seismic microzonation studies and regional probabilistic seismic hazard assessments that account for site effects. It is also suitable for structural response analyses if one would...

This study presents a first attempt to couple two of the most important components of seismic risk mitigation strategies: probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) and seismic microzonation. We show an application in the westernmost sector of the Liguria region in northwestern Italy, an area where strong earthquakes (up to about magnitude 6.5) o...

In earthquake engineering, “engineering bedrock” is regarded as a stiff material (i.e., rock or rock-like geological formation) that is characterized by a shearwave velocity greater than a target value (e.g., 800 m=s; current Italian and European seismic codes). In the case of deep basins, the identification of engineering bedrock is problematic, b...

The present work aims to suggest an innovative solution for seismic monitoring stations’ endurance. These stations are characterized by many different problems, such as lightning vulnerability, energy independence and noises disturbance. The suggested technology, for this type of application, is an improved bladeless turbo-expander patented by Niko...

We introduce in the on-site earthquake early warning (EEW) a partially non-ergodic perspective from the site effects point of view. We consider the on-site EEW approach where the peak ground velocity (PGV) for S-waves is predicted from an early estimate, over the P-waves, of either the peak-displacement (PD) or cumulative squared velocity (IV2). Th...

The monitoring of sea wave parameters, such as the significant wave height, represents a fundamental issue for several economic activities. The use of buoy networks is nowadays a standard approach in sea wave monitoring. However, due to their maintenance costs, both a widespread coverage of monitored areas and the acquisition of continual stream of...

Since the beginning of the 1980s, when Mandelbrot observed that earthquakes occur on 'fractal' self-similar sets, many studies have investigated the dynamical mechanisms that lead to self-similarities in the earthquake process. Interpreting seismicity as a self-similar process is undoubtedly convenient to bypass the physical complexities related to...

The zonation presented in this study has been developed with the aim of applying it as a branch of the logic tree that will be used for the new Italian seismic hazard map, presently in preparation according to the approach of seismotectonic probabilism. With respect to the zonation used for the present official seismic hazard map of Italy, the zona...

The article presents a comparison of different probabilistic methods for ground motion hazard assessments that include site effects. The approaches examined here were selected and refined during the different phases of the S2-Project, which this journal volume is addressed to. Different procedures characterized by different levels of sophistication...

In the framework of the S2 DPC-INGV 2014–2015 project (https://sites.google.com/site/ingvdpc2014progettos2/), several field surveys were designed with the aim to investigate the local seismic site response of selected Italian Accelerometric Network strong motion stations. In this study the results obtained at Sorbolo, Lesignano de’ Bagni, and Caste...

In this study, we apply an empirical scoring method to evaluate the feasibility of probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHAs) at regional scale in Italy accounting for site amplification, which is taken into account through the application of a set of ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) defined for specific ground types. Precisely, this m...

In this work, we analyze the macroseismic fields of the main historical earthquakes occurred in western Liguria (northwestern Italy) in order to identify possible relations between the isoseismal patterns and the local geological setting. Anomalies in the spatial distribution of macroseismic intensities are often attributed to site effects. We obse...

In this study, we analyze the space–time evolution of the seismic strain release in the area shocked by the still ongoing Italian Central Apennines seismic crisis started on August 24, 2016 and culminated with the October 30 main shock of Mw 6.5. Specifically, we examine the variation in time and space of the seismic strain release rate with the ai...

This study deals with the impact of deep-soil discontinuities on groundmotion amplification in the Po alluvial basin (northern Italy), and consequently, on long-period probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis estimates. The focus is on Castelleone, where a seismic station of the Italian National Seismic Network has been deployed since 2009. To define...

This study compares 12 hazard models based on dated and recent ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) to evaluate the improvement provided by new equations on probabilistic seismic-hazard assessments in Italy. To this end, a statistical procedure is applied to score the outcomes of each hazard model at 56 different accelerometric sites that hav...

The study has presented an integrated approach to viticultural soil characterization using geophysical and geochemical methods. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the presence of geophysical and geochemical anomalies in soil within a vineyard located in well-known Cinque Terre Zone, North-Western Italy. To this scope soil and bedrock features...

The purpose of this work is to study seismic amplification effects at four sites hosting recording stations of the National Accelerometric Network (RAN) managed by the national Department of Civil Protection. At all sites, which are located in the Piedmont region (Northwestern Italy), both active and passive seismic prospecting methods are used, al...

The impact on probabilistic ground-motion hazard of different definitions of the horizontal component of ground shaking is examined. The scope is to highlight how such a minor detail within the complex computation chain of a probabilistic seismic- hazard assessment can play a crucial role on final results. This is achieved by comparing hazard maps...

The aim of this work is to describe the seismicity of Northwestern Italy from the very detailed picture provided by 30 years of accurate instrumental recordings coming from the Regional Seismic Network of Northwestern Italy (RSNI—University of Genoa). In an attempt to provide, for the first time, a comprehensive view of the seismicity in the area,...

In this study, we apply spectral ratio techniques to study the structural response of some civil and historical buildings in the historic centre of the city of Genoa (Northwestern Italy) that, during the second half of 2012, were subjected to intense vibrations induced by the blasting excavation of the sea bed in the Genoa harbour. The study focuse...

The ground motion selection approach adopted for conducting fragility analysis of structures through nonlinear dynamic analysis can affect significantly the results obtained. The scaling method of the selected ground motions is a second factor that plays a major role as well. This work presents a methodology for the selection and scaling of ground...

This study examines the role of topographic effects on the prediction of earthquake ground motion. Ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) are mathematical models that estimate the shaking level induced by an earthquake as a function of several parameters, such as magnitude, source-to-site distance, style of faulting and ground type. However, li...

A seismic hazard assessment is often thought of as a process that calculates the mean annual rates of exceeding given ground-motion values on rock at a specific location. However, in many applications this view is reductive. A more complete definition should account for the hazard due to other effects induced by seismic activity at a site, such as...

The study presents a detail analysis of the swarm occurred in the area surrounding Sampeyre (Piedmont, Italy) during the period October-November 2010. The crisis caught the attention of seismologists because of its intense seismic productivity that has never been observed in the past. During the swarm, 550 earthquakes were recorded and located by t...

The paper presents an extensive review of topographic effects in seismology taking into account the knowledge of 40 yr of scientific literature. An overview of topographic effects based on experimental observations and numerical modelling is presented with the aim of highlighting meaning and causes of these phenomena as well as possible correlation...

The scope of this work is to examine the influence of the uncertainty in soil modeling on numerical ground response estimates through a comprehensive sen-sitivity analysis. This allows identification of those parameters with the largest effect on both soil amplification (quantified here by a frequency-independent fac-tor, F a) and fundamental frequ...

In this study, microseism recordings from a near coast seismic station and concurrent significant sea wave heights (H_{1/3}) are analysed to calibrate an empirical relation for predicting sea wave height in the Ligurian Sea. The study stems from the investigation of the damaging sea storms occurred in the Ligurian Sea between 2008 October and Novem...

A seismic hazard assessment is often thought of as a process that calculates the mean annual rates of exceeding given ground-motion values on rock at a specific location. However, in many applications this view is reductive. A more complete definition should account for the hazard due to other effects induced by seismic activity at a site, such as...

Analysis of the relationship between microseisms and sea wave heights is a fundamental step for understanding the interaction of sea storms with near coastal environment, as well as to gain insights about the possibility of forecasting sea wave heights from microseism. The possibility to predict sea wave heights in the Ligurian Sea is analyzed in t...

During the period October-November 2010, the area surrounding Sampeyre (Piedmont, Italy) was affected by an intense seismic activity, which evolved into an earthquake swarm. The whole seismic crisis lasted approximately one month, from October 13 to November 12, 2010. During this period, approximately 550 earthquakes were recorded and localized by...

This work talks about the relevance of topographic effects in local site response evaluations. In this way some Italian test sites, characterized by the presence of a seismic station installed at the top of a steep topography, were investigated. The influence of the morphology was evaluated, at first, by performing rotational spectral ratio analyse...

This study presents a probabilistic method for estimating the ground motion hazard at sites presenting topographic irregularities. This method is applicable to topographic crests or ridges which may affect site response, producing 2D (or 3D) amplification effects. The method is based on a set of 2D numerical analyses that are carried out using mult...

On 6 April 2009, a strong earthquake of magnitude Mw = 6.3 (red star in Figure 1) shook L'Aquila (southern Italy), causing massive damage and losses. Approximately 300 people died and more than 1,500 were injured. Following the mainshock there were many debates concerning the predictability of the earthquake. At present, earthquakes cannot be predi...

Following discussions with C. Meletti and M. Stucchi of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), coordinators of the DPC‐INGV S1 Project (see the Data and Resources section), we would like to clarify some statements presented in Barani et al. (2009). Moreover, we would like to correct a typographical error in one of the tables. F...

This paper presents a comprehensive ground response study for the municipality of Villa Collemandina in Northern Tuscany (Italy). This site was selected following a macroseismic analysis of the 1920 Garfagnana earthquake (Mw=6.5), which, at Villa Collemandina, produced damage and losses that were larger than at any other site near the earthquake ep...

This work presents seismic strain rate maps for the Western Alps and Northern Apennines (northern Italy) as derived from an earthquake catalog collecting both historical and instrumental data. Strain rates are calculated on the basis of the rate of seismic moment release using the Anderson method. Unlike previous applications, which determined the...

This work presents a probabilistic method for estimating earthquake-induced nonlinear slope displacements. This method is applicable to any kind of slope, embankment and earth/rockfill dam. When coupled with Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis at the slope site, it produces estimates of the annual probability that a permanent deformation of the s...

This study deals with the calibration of soil amplification factors to be used for generating site-specific, real-time (or quasi real-time) ground-motion scenarios in Italy. To this end, the ground response of 100 soil profiles is studied through 1-dimensional (1D) equivalent-linear numerical simulations. Several real, rock ground-motion time histo...

The aim of this work is to describe the seismicity of the South-western Alps and Northern Apennines from the very detailed picture provided by thirty years of operation of the Regional Seismic Network of northwestern Italy .

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis is a process that integrates over aleatory uncertainties (e.g., future earthquake locations and magnitudes) to calculate the mean annual rate of exceedance (MRE) of given ground-motion parameter values at a site. These rates reflect the contributions of all the sources whose seismic activity is deemed to affect...

The average shear wave velocity over the top 30m of a soil profile (VS,30) represents an usual parameter for soil classification in a modern building code for seismic design. In this work the ground response of about 100 soil profiles in Tuscany and Molise (Italy) is studied through 1D numerical simulations in order to evaluate the reliability of E...

In this paper the sensitivity analysis is performed as the preliminary step towards the construction a logic tree useful for probabilistic seismic hazard analyses of western Liguria (north-western Italy). The sensitivity analysis is conducted for six strategic sites within the Imperia district, following a multi-parameter approach, and accounts for...

The use of logic trees in probabilistic seismic hazard analyses often involves a large number of branches that reflect the uncertainty in the selection of different models and in the selection of the parameter values of each model. The sensitivity analysis, as proposed by Rabinowitz and Steinberg [Rabinowitz, N., Steinberg, D.M., 1991. Seismic haza...

The paper describes some analyses carried out to establish the slope stability under seismic condition of some sites within the Genoa district (Italy). For this purpose, the simplified Newmark sliding block analysis (Jibson, 1993) is applied. This method is based on an empirical regression equation to estimate the Newmark displacement as a function...

In this paper, waveform similarity analysis is adapted and implemented in a declustering procedure to identify foreshocks and aftershocks, to obtain instrumental catalogues that are cleaned of dependent events and to perform an independent check of the results of traditional declustering techniques.Unlike other traditional declustering methods (i.e...

In this paper, waveform similarity analysis is adapted and implemented in a declustering procedure to identify foreshocks and aftershocks, to obtain instrumental catalogues that are cleaned of dependent events and to perform an independent check of the results of traditional declustering techniques. Unlike other traditional declustering methods (i....

This paper describes analyses carried out to assess the ground surface seismic hazard for an area in Northwest Italy. At some locations the alluvial deposits were characterized by means of boreholes, down-hole shear velocity tests and microtremor records. The nonlinear effects of the soil layers on the intensity of the ground motion at the surface...