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HOW INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION CHANGED ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY IN CROATIA

In December 2003 I received an e-mail from Prof. Marco Mucciarelli introducing himself, and offering a cooperation on preparation of proposal for the NATO SfP grant to perform seismic microzonation studies or geophysical surveys using microtremors, which I gladly accepted. Although we used ambient noise for site investigation for decades, our techniques and instruments were quite outdated. Eventually, the project ‘Assessment of Seismic Site Amplification and Seismic Building Vulnerability in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia’ was awarded in 2004, in largest part thanks to Marco’s initiative and efforts. The benefits were numerous: each project partner obtained state-of-the art portable pool of instruments for ambient noise recording, new techniques and software were introduced, and lasting cooperations were established. Within the project, each partner performed and analysed hundreds of measurements both in free-field and in buildings. Upon successful completion of the project, Marco suggested that we apply for funds for a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW). This application was also successful and 30 world renown experts met in Dubrovnik (Croatia) in September 2007. Their contributions were subsequently published (again on Marco’s initiative!) in a Springer book, well received by the research community. The know-how and experience acquired over the period 2004-2007 was subsequently built upon, and resulted in a number of ambient noise related studies in Croatia. Only a few will be mentioned – the microzonations of Zagreb and Ston, fieldcampaigns in Dubrovnik, and a large set of measurements in buildings all over Croatia. The microzonation studies provided important data characterizing seismic response of shallow structures to earthquake excitation. The measurements in buildings resulted in a large database of building free-frequencies and damping, also suggesting which buildings are potentially prone to soil-structure resonance. Some of the results were also incorporated into the Croatian National Annex to Eurocode 8. In retrospective, it is clear that Marco’s inexhaustible energy, enthusiasm, love for science and openhearted cooperation were among the key ingredients that opened new perspectives for Croatian engineering seismology.

Croatia ; engineering seismology ; international cooperation

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