The Importance of Assessing the Geological Site Effects of Ancient Earthquakes from the Archaeoseismological Point of View

Earthquakes have and continue to, occur worldwide, though some places are affected more than others by earthquake-induced ground shaking the same earthquake can cause damage in one area nearby locations due to site-specific geological site conditions, also known as local effects. Depending on chronology of earthquakes, various disciplines seismology include instrumental historical seismology, archaeoseismology, palaeoseismology neotectonics, each focusing using specific sources information evaluate recent or ancient earthquakes. Past earthquakes investigated expand pre-instrumental catalog better a region’s seismic hazard. Archaeoseismology offers way achieve these goals because it links how civilizations their environment might interacted responded past motion soil amplification. Hence, archaeoseismology explores (past) that sites human occupation settings, which left co-seismic marks manufactured constructions exhumed archaeological excavations. However, archaeoseismological observations often made limited epicentral area, poorly constrained dated occasionally unclear evidence damage. Archaeological excavations field investigations underestimate critical role an site’s conditions played causing structural anthropogenic structures. Nevertheless, community document inaccurately diagnose structures even estimate size giving little no consideration effects addressing causative earthquake. This mixture factors frequently leads imprecise estimates unlikely environmental impacts, leaving unexplained location moment magnitude is essential not rely solely intensities based archaeologically documented without assessing nature observed contribution paper explains concept archaeologists unfamiliar with notion. It clarifies its shaking, amplification intensity why be estimated when thought been struck must considered describe interpret destruction layers. Conversely, engineers seismologists dealing hazard risk assessment pay close attention attributed factored at all.