Analysis of the local seismic response in the Strovolos Municipality (Nicosia District, Cyprus)

Local seismic response analysis and microzonation studies represent fundamental tools for assessment and mitigation of the seismic risk in urban areas and cultural heritage sites. In this work, in the framework of the H2020-RISE “STABLE - Structural stABLity risk assEsment” project, local seismic response analysis by an integrated approach was performed in Strovolos municipality located in the central part of the island of Cyprus, within the Nicosia District, built on the alluvial deposits of the Mesaoria plain and affected by medium-high regional seismic hazard. An assessment of the basic seismic hazard for different return periods was, firstly, performed by a combined probabilistic and deterministic approach. Then, the reconstruction of the engineering geological model of the subsoil, using available borehole logs, geotechnical test results and specific geological field survey was carried out; seismic ambient noise measurements, aimed to preliminarily identify areas with possible local amplification, were carried out as well. Finally, 1D numerical simulations, on seismostratigraphic columns representative of the engineering geological subsoil model, were performed through the software Strata to quantify the local seismic response of the site. The elastic response spectra obtained, for each analysed return period, showed a significant increase of the basic seismic motion which could be considered for possible interventions suitable to improve the buildings performance in the case of seismic shaking in the Strovolos settlement area.