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Intensity Scale ESI 2007 for Assessing Earthquake Intensities

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Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering

Synonyms

Earthquake geological effects; Environmental seismic intensity; Macroseismic scale

Introduction

Earthquake intensity scales were introduced at the end of the nineteenth century (e.g., Rossi-Forel, Cancani, Mercalli) in order to characterize source parameters, damage distribution, and environmental impact of relevant seismic events. These intensity scales were based on a classification of earthquake effects on humans, on buildings, and on the natural environment.

Intensity provides a measure of earthquake-induced damage both at a site (local intensity) and at the epicenter (epicentral intensity). It is important to note that intensity evaluations consider the coseismic effects in the whole range of frequencies of vibratory ground motion, together with those resulting from static, finite deformations (fault ground ruptures). It is common practice to use the term “macroseismicity” to describe effects that are measurable with the intensity scales, because very small earthquakes...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Salamanca, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Ávila, EscuelaPolitécnicaSuperior de Ávila, Avila, Spain

    Pablo G. Silva

  2. Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università dell’Insubria, Como, Italy

    Alessandro Maria Michetti

  3. Department of Geological Survey, ISPRA, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Rome, Italy

    Luca Guerrieri

Authors
  1. Pablo G. Silva
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  2. Alessandro Maria Michetti
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  3. Luca Guerrieri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pablo G. Silva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Computer Science in Civil Engineering, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, University Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Michael Beer

  2. Department of Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Ioannis A. Kougioumtzoglou

  3. Institute for Risk & Uncertainty and Centre for Engineering Sustainability, Liverpool, UK

    Edoardo Patelli

  4. Institute for Risk & Uncertainty and Centre for Engineering Dynamics, Liverpool, UK

    Siu-Kui Au

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Silva, P.G., Michetti, A.M., Guerrieri, L. (2015). Intensity Scale ESI 2007 for Assessing Earthquake Intensities. In: Beer, M., Kougioumtzoglou, I.A., Patelli, E., Au, SK. (eds) Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35344-4_31

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