Environment Intensity Scale - ESI 2007
In 1999, during the 15th INQUA (International Union
for Quaternary Research) Congress in Durban (August 3 – 11,
1999), the Subcommission on Paleoseismicity promoted the
compilation of a new scale of macroseismic intensity based only on
environmental effects. A Working Group including geologists,
seismologists and engineers compiled a first version of the scale,
that was presented at the 16th INQUA Congress in Reno
(July 23 – 30, 2003), and updated one year later at the
32nd International Geological Congress in Florence
(
Michetti et al., 2004). To this end, the INQUA TERPRO
(Commission on Terrestrial Processes) approved a specific project
(INQUA Scale Project, 2004 - 2007) with the aim of A)
testing the scale for a trial period of 4 years, coincident with
the intercongress cycle, B) review the first version through its
application to case studies worldwide, and C) submit the revised
version so as to be ratified during the 17th INQUA
Congress in Cairns (July 28 – August 3, 2007).
This revised version of the scale, which is formally named
Environmental Seismic Intensity scale - ESI 2007, is composed
by:
a) the Definition
of intensity degrees on the basis of Earthquake Environmental
Effects, i.e. the scale itself, which follows the same basic
structure of the widely used twelve degrees macroseismic scales
(Michetti et al, 2004);
b) the Guidelines, which aim
at better clarifying i) the background of the scale and the
scientific concepts that support the introduction of such a new
macroseismic scale; ii) the procedure to use the scale alone or
integrated with damage-based, traditional scales; iii) how the
scale is organized; iv) the descriptions of diagnostic features
required for intensity assessment, and the meaning of idioms,
colors, and fonts.
A gallery of
photographs is available, thanks to numerous scientists
involved in the INQUA Scale Project
The ESI 2007 Form is an
helpful tool for data collection of Earthquake Environmental
Effects.
The
Table of ESI Intensity Degrees reports the definition of
intensity degrees in a table, classified by the category of
Earthquake Environmental Effect.
Both these latter documents have been designed for the
application of the ESI 2007 scale during field surveys immediately
after the seismic event.
Finally, a document summarizes the main changes from
INQUA EEE 2004 to the ESI 2007.
