The earthquake of 250 a.d. in Augusta Raurica, A real event with a 3D site-effect?

Fäh, Donat; Steimen, Sibylle; Oprsal, Ivo; Ripperger, J.; Wössner, Jochen; Schatzmann, Regula; Kästli, Philipp; Spottke, Ina; Huggenberger, Peter

doi:10.1007/s10950-006-9031-1

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…If such effects of wave spreading and ground motion are neglected, the obvious consequence is an overestimation of the earthquake magnitude. Ground motion amplification modelling at the ancient town of Augusta Raurica has led Fäh et al (2006;this volume) to consider the possible archaeoseismic damage as strongly conditioned by site effects. For this reason, the authors have proposed that the previously estimated magnitude (M W 6.9; Fäh et al 2003), based on the amount of damage at Augusta Raurica, was overestimated.…”

Section: Reconstructing the Characteristics Of An Archaeoseismic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

2006

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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 geophysicalengineering 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.

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Section: Reconstructing the Characteristics Of An Archaeoseismic Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

2006

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“…Since then also quantitative measures for the proposed seismic load at an archaeological site or the dimension of the causative earthquake(s) have been the focus of several studies (i.e. Stiros and Jones 1996; Hinzen and Schütte 2003;Hinzen 2005;Fäh et al 2006;Decker et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative archaeoseismological investigation of the Great Theatre of Larissa, Greece

Caputo

Hinzen

Liberatore

et al. 2010

Bull Earthquake Eng

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Larissa, the capital of Thessaly, is located in the eastern part of Central Greece, at the southern border of a Late Quarternary graben, the Tyrnavos Basin. Palaeoseismological, morphotectonic, and geophysical investigations as well as historical and instrumental records show evidences for seismic activity in this area. Previous investigations documented the occurrence of several moderate to strong earthquakes during Holocene time on active faults with recurrence intervals of a few thousand years. The historical and instrumental records suggest a period of seismic quiescence during the last 400 to 500 years. The present archaeoseismological research, based on a multidisciplinary approach is devoted to improve the knowledge on past earthquakes, which occurred in the area. This study focuses on damages observed on the walls of the scene building of the Great Theatre of Larissa. The Theatre was built at the beginning of the 3rd century BC and consists of a semicircular auditorium, an almost circular arena and a main scene building. Archaeological and historical investigations document a partial destruction of the theatre during the 2nd-1st century BC. Recent excavations show that the building complex after it was repaired suffered additional structural damages, probably from seismic loading. The damages investigated in detail are displacements, rotations and ruptures of numerous blocks at the walls of the scene building. In order to test the earthquake hypothesis as cause of the damages a simplified seismotectonic model of the Tyrnavos Basin and its surroundings was used with a composite earthquake source model to calculate synthetic seismograms at the Larissa site for various earthquake scenarios. Horizontal to vertical seismic ratio (HVSR) measurements in the theatre and its vicinity were used to estimate local site effects. The synthetic seismograms are then used as input accelerations for a finite element model of the walls, which simulates seismically induced in-plane sliding within the walls. Results show that some of the surrounding faults have the potential to produce seismic ground motion that can induce in-plane sliding of blocks. Model calculations were used to constrain the characteristics of the ground acceleration and infer the causative fault and earthquake by comparing the calculated and observed distribution of the displacements of the blocks. Ground motions with a PGA at the site of 0.62-0.82 g, which could be induced by an M 5.8-6.0 earthquake on the nearby Larissa Fault, would be sufficient to explain the damage

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“…City‐wide detailed studies of ancient earthquakes have been made in only a very few cases based on specific structures and on very precise information (Fäh et al., ; Galli and Mollin, ). In many other towns, studies of earthquakes are supported by precise historical and archaeological data, such as inscriptions commemorating repairs and sometimes specifying the causes of observed destructions (Guidoboni, Comastri, & Traina, ; Stiros, ) or findings offering precise dating (see above).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach is different from the site or building‐oriented approaches used so far and which focus on strict archaeological or geologic criteria for the identification of earthquakes in specific buildings or other constructions (cf. Karcz & Kafri, ; Stiros, ; Hancock & Altunel, ; Meghraoui et al., ), even if they are occasionally characterized by city‐wide coverage (e.g., Fäh et al., ; Galli & Molin, ). The results of this study and the proposed methodology are expected to be useful both to understand the role of environmental effects in the evolution of various ancient towns, but also to contribute to the understanding of the seismic risk in the wider Patras area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Destruction Layers, Urban Evolution, and Earthquakes in Roman Patras, Greece

Stamati

Stiros

2016

Geoarchaeology

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The role of seismicity in the urban evolution of Roman Patras, a major town in western Greece, located next to seismically active areas (Aegean Arc, Gulf of Corinth) has so far been ignored. We have analyzed ∼1000 typically short reports of rescue excavations made during a recent building boom period in the center of Patras. A minimum of ∼100 excavations providing evidence of destruction layers and atypical burials, including unburied skeletons indicative of societal disorganization, were summarized in a georeferenced digital archive and further analyzed. Few of these data satisfy strict criteria for the identification of earthquakes from archaeological data, especially concerning dating, but in combination with other excavations with destruction layers, the association of destruction evidence with earthquakes is increased, and three destructive events were recognized, with a recurrence interval <200 years. Two of them correlate with historical evidence, in circa A.D. 61 and in A.D. 551 at the nearby town of Naupactos (Lepanto). Inferred earthquakes seem to have influenced the urban evolution of Patras and perhaps its decline since the fourth century. The urban‐oriented, statistical approach for the identification of earthquakes proposed here is different from previous archaeoseismological approaches and may well be useful for the study of many ancient urban centers.

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The earthquake of 250 a.d. in Augusta Raurica, A real event with a 3D site-effect?

Cited by 24 publications

References 12 publications

Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

Quantitative archaeoseismological investigation of the Great Theatre of Larissa, Greece

Destruction Layers, Urban Evolution, and Earthquakes in Roman Patras, Greece

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