Developing effective subsoil reference model for seismic microzonation studies: Central Italy case studies

A general methodological approach is here discussed to integrate geological and geophysical information in seismic microzonation studies. In particular, the methodology aims at maximizing the exploitation of low-cost data for an extensive preliminary assessment of ground motion amplification phenomena induced by the local seismo-stratigraphical configuration. Three main steps are delineated: (a) the combination of geological/geomorphological analyses to develop an Engineering-Geological Model of the study area; (b) targeted geophysical prospecting to provide an Engineering-Geological/Geophysical Model; (c) evaluating effectiveness of Engineering-Geological/Geophysical Model by estimating expected ground motion amplification phenomena by the use of suitable computational tools. The workflow is illustrated by a case-study based on a set of villages in the Umbro-Marchean Apennine (Central Italy) damaged during the Seismic sequence that occurred in Central Italy during 2016–2017.