From: Subject: IASPEI-COSOI Working Group "Historical Seismology" Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 12:33:09 -0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: file://C:\Documents and Settings\abw\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK151\Hist_seismology_goals.html X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 IASPEI-COSOI Working Group "Historical = Seismology"

IASPEI-COSOI Working Group "Historical Seismology" =

(proposal)

Paola ALBINI (Milano, Italy) and Katsuhiko ISHIBASHI (Kobe, = Japan)=20

Background

When a destructive earthquake occurs - as in the most recent cases at = Bam=20 (Iran, 2003) or Indonesia (2004) etc., one of the first questions raised = by=20 seismologists, media and by the common people concerns the seismic = history of=20 the affected places. The importance of the contribution of historical = earthquake=20 data to seismological studies, in particular to seismic hazard = assessment and=20 related topics, is increasingly acknowledged by the international = scientific=20 community. At international conferences, sessions on historical = seismology are=20 becoming frequent and attract investigators from varied disciplines, = such as=20 seismologists, engineers, historians, etc. Working Groups are active on = a=20 national and international basis. In 2002 an international, dedicated = conference=20 held in Erice (Italy) showed the progress achieved around the world and=20 established new collaborations; the output is contained in a special = volume of=20 the "Annals of Geophysics" (2004).

Historical earthquake data stems from the written records of seismic = effects=20 of the past, as provided by the historical sources; as such, they supply = the=20 most important - if not the unique - evidence of earthquake activity = before the=20 early instrumental period (beginning of 20th century), and a very = necessary one=20 also in the period up to modern instrumental period (up to 1964). Since = about 20=20 years, thanks to pioneer works, historical seismology has established = itself as=20 a discipline with internationally recognized, rigorous procedures, for = both=20 retrieving historical data and interpreting them in seismological terms. = Investigations are frequently performed by multidisciplinary teams that = today=20 release a reliable, semi-quantitative, scientific historical earthquake = data=20 set. Around the world, historical earthquake data are collected by many=20 organizations with varying criteria and degrees of commitment; most of = them are=20 concerned with national or local data only. A few countries only have a=20 consistent, accessible set of historical earthquake data, interpreted in = terms=20 of macroseismic intensity data points; in many countries scattered data = are=20 available on paper only. Single investigators, from both the = seismological and=20 the historical side, contribute very useful studies, which often feed = the grey=20 literature and miss international dissemination, also because of = language=20 problems.

In all, a huge amount of useful literature and data still waits to be = made=20 available to the scientific community.

Goals

The main goals of this WG can be summarized as follows:

The=20 material will undergo no specific selection, and especially no = preference will=20 be made with respect to the language in which they have originally been = written.=20

Actions and a Rough Schedule (Month, on a two-year = basis)

Some of the actions will be undertaken on a rolling programme during = the WG=20 activity; they are marked with a (C), equivalent to 1-24 M. This means = that they=20 will overlap and/or in need to be redirected.

The provisional schedule above could be subjected to substantial = changes.=20 Most of the work will be done by electronic means. The archive will be = hosted by=20 a server at INGV (Milano, Italy).

On one specific occasion within the two-year time-span, the = participants in=20 the WG may decide to call for a dedicated meeting. More probably, they = will try=20 and profit of other, already planned initiatives.

A general meeting of the WG can be foreseen at the IUGG XXIV General=20 Assembly, 2-13 July 2007, Perugia (Italy). On that occasion, the results = obtained by the first two-year WG activity will be discussed in order to = evaluate a possible further extension.

8 July 2005

Paola Albini
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e=20 Vulcanologia
Sezione di Milano
Via E. Bassini 15, 20133 Milano,=20 Italy
Tel: +39-02-23699264
Fax: +39-02-23699458
e-mail:=20 albini@mi.ingv.it

Katsuhiko Ishibashi
Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, = Faculty=20 of Science
Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501 Japan
Tel & Fax:=20 +81-78-803-5731
e-mail: ishi@kobe-u.ac.jp