From the rift that cuts through the heart of Iceland to the complex tectonic convergence that causes frequent and often deadly earthquakes in Italy, Greece, and Turkey to the volcanic tremors that rattle the Mediterranean, seismic activity is a prevalent and often life‐threatening reality across Europe. Any attempt to mitigate the seismic risk faced by society requires an accurate estimate of the seismic hazard.

With the global challenge to satisfy an increasing demand for energy while at the same time stabilizing or reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere, geothermal energy from enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs) increasingly is being recognized as an attractive alternative energy source throughout the world. However, the risks associated with the seismicity necessarily induced during the development of an EGS constitute a significant challenge for the widespread implementation of this technology. This article provides a preliminary overview of lessons learned from an attempt to develop an EGS beneath the city of Basel, Switzerland.

this report of the swiss seismological service summarizes the seismic activity in switzerland and surrounding regions during 2008. During this period, 451 earthquakes and 75 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. the three strongest events occurred in the Valais, near Lac des toules (M L 3.6), and in Graubünden, near Ilanz (M L 3.7) and Paspels (M L 4.0). Although felt by the population, they were not reported to have caused any damage. However, with a total of only 15 events with M L ≥ 2.5, the seismic activity in the year 2008 was far below the average over the previous 33 years. ZusAmmenfAssunGDieser bericht des schweizerischen erdbebendienstes stellt eine Zusammenfassung der im Vorjahr in der schweiz und umgebung aufgetretenen erd- IntroductionPast earthquake activity in and around switzerland has been documented in an uninterrupted series of annual reports from 1879 until 1963 (Jahresberichte des Schweizerischen Erdbebendienstes). three additional annual reports have been published for the years 1972-1974. these reports together with historical records of earthquakes dating back to the 13th century have been summarized by Pavoni (1977) and provided the basis for the first seismic hazard map of switzerland (sä-gesser & mayer-rosa 1978). With the advent of routine data processing by computer, the wealth of data acquired by the nationwide seismograph network has been regularly documented in bulletins with detailed lists of all recorded events (Monthly Bulletin of the Swiss Seismological Service). since 1996, annual reports summarizing the seismic activity in switzerland and surrounding regions have been published in the present form , 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005Deichmann et al. 1998 Deichmann et al. , 2000aDeichmann et al. , 2002Deichmann et al. , 2004 Deichmann et al. , 2006 Deichmann et al. , 2008. In the course of reassessing the seismic hazard in switzerland, a new uniform earthquake catalog covering both the historical and instrumental periods has been compiled (fäh et al. 2003). the data in the new earthquake catalog of switzerland (ecOs) are available on line (http://www.seismo.ethz.ch, swiss earthquake catalogs). the new seismic hazard map of switzerland based on this catalog was officially released in 2004(Giardini et al. 2004Wiemer et al. 2009). In addition, numerous studies covering different aspects of the recent seismicity of switzerland have been published in the scientific literature (for an overview and additional references see, e.g. Deichmann 1990;Pavoni & roth 1990;rüttener 1995;rüttener at al. 1996;Pavoni et al. 1997;Deichmann et al. 2000b; Kastrup et al. 2004;Kastrup et al. 2007). Data acquisition and analysis Seismic stations in operation during 2008the swiss seismological service operates two separate nationwide seismic networks, a high-gain broad-band seismometer earthquakes in switzerland and surrounding regions during 2008

Summary In low seismicity areas such as southwestern Germany, quantitative statements on strong ground, motion suffer from the lack of instrumental strong motion data although the historic catalogue indicates that events of moment magnitudes up to MW= 6 are conceivable. This is the situation in the Upper Rhinegraben area were moderate earthquakes with low probability but high impact caused by the significant aggregation of population, infrastructure and industrial facilities are expected to happen. We have developed scenarios of crustal earthquakes with moment magnitudes MW= 6.0 for a source region southeast of Basel (Switzerland), itself being struck by a strong earthquake in 1356 with an intensity of up to IX (EMS98 intensity). In order to synthesize strong ground motion seismograms, we are using an empirical Green's function (EGF) approach. We utilize records in the frequency range of 0.5–25 Hz of permanent stations in the Rhinegraben and the adjacent Black Forest in southwestern Germany as EGFs. To be consistent with the local seismicity, we model earthquakes with a left‐lateral strike slip focal mechanism. The applied EGF approach allows one to define independently a variety of rupture scenarios on the fault plane by varying the hypocentre location, rupture velocity, fault plane geometry, slip distribution and rise time. Therefore, we can create worst‐case scenarios for the chosen sites. We compare peak horizontal acceleration (PHA) and response spectra in terms of spectral accelerations and PHAs with attenuation laws proposed for Europe. Our results encourage the application of the EGF approach as a supplementary tool for site‐specific strong ground motion prediction in low‐seismicity regions such as the Upper Rhinegraben area.

The Roman city Augusta Raurica is located East of Basel, Switzerland. One important topic of the city's history concerns the hypothesis of an earthquake striking the city in the middle of the third century A.D. This idea had been formulated according to archaeological features and findings, but had not been tested so far. A selection of the archaeological features were reviewed and dated in order to test the hypothesis of a single event. However, archaeological investigations do not draw a conclusive picture; it could not be proven that all features of possible destruction date to the same event. Detailed seismological investigations were performed. These included geological and geotechnical mapping of the unconsolidated sediments. Important parameters such as the thickness and composition of the unconsolidated sediments, the terrain topography and the topography of the bedrock surface were mapped. Ambient vibration H/V measurements provided the