Are the Italian microzonation level 2 abacuses applicable in the Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy) plain? Comparison between the national abacuses and the numerically simulated amplification factors and between the derived elastic response spectra

Abstract

Seismic shaking of an area is strongly affected by the local geology. The so-called local site effects must be considered for the estimation of seismic effects on structures and urban planning. Thus, the seismic microzonation is the process aimed at identifying and mapping the subsoil local response in a given area, usually at urban/municipality scale and in terms of ground shaking parameters and susceptibility to ground instabilities. In Italy, for areas that can be schematised as a 1D subsoil model (e.g. alluvial plain), a simplified approach is proposed to quantify the seismic amplification (amplification factor, AF). This approach consists of tables of correspondences, called seismic abacuses, available for the whole national area as well as for some regional territories, and derived for simplified subsoil models. In this work, the results of the comparison between the AF values retrieved from national abacuses applied in the Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy) plain municipalities and those from 1D numerical simulations are presented. In general, the abacuses underestimate the local seismic site effects a part for sites with a shallow bedrock. No correlations/trends were identified between the AF derived from abacuses and those from numerical simulations. Moreover, considering the elastic acceleration response spectra, it emerges that in the 49.5% of the FVG analysed sites the abacuses approach, even though it underestimates the real seismic response, is a more suitable approximation compared to the soil class simplified approach proposed by the Italian regulation. Finally, what emerges is that the limit of 30 m, as indicated in the Italian regulation, to consider a deep or shallow bedrock seams underestimated, and the AFs are not correlated with the seismic bedrock depth when it is higher than 100 m.