European-Mediterranean
Parametric Earthquake Catalogue (EMPEC)


This page is maintained by the CSEM/EMSC Key Nodal Member for the dissemination of long-term seismicity data 



European-Mediterranean
Parametric Earthquake Catalogue (EMPEC)






1. Scope



The scope of this task is to compile EMPEC, a comprehensive parametric
earthquake catalogue for the European-Mediterranean area, to make it available
to public and to keep it updated according to a standard procedure.

The compilation of EMPEC will be accomplished by making the data available on
this website, formulating possible solutions and asking investigators to give
their agreement or suggest alternatives. It will start with the earthquakes
with M >=5.5.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.






2. Disclaimer



EMSC/CSEM is not responsible for improper use of the data. In principle the
inventory will point to the most updated version of a catalogue, though it will
make available also the former versions, when possible.









3. State-of-the-art (December 2000)



Due to the fragmentation of the national initiatives on this topic, the task of
compiling a comprehensive parametric earthquake catalogue in Europe is a
difficult one. Any investigator wishing to accomplish this task, sooner or
later has to decide between two approaches: 

i) to make his own way through the thousands of earthquake studies,
compilations and catalogues, compiling a completely new catalogue; 

ii) to use the existing catalogues, critically merging and sorting them out. 

The main landmarks are the catalogue by Karnik (1969-1971; first approach) and
Van Gils & Leydecker (1991; second approach). 

The first way is safer, though rather hard; the second one is easier, though it
will never give a uniform product and it is exposed to pitfalls (see for
instance Stucchi et al. ,1993).

One of the goals of the EC BEECD project was to start compiling a comprehensive
parametric earthquake catalogue for the European area, according to uniform
methodologies (Working Programme). Some analysis of the current catalogues are
found in Stucchi and Bonnin (1995); Stucchi and Camassi (1997). 

Further information is available through the EC project "BEECD" A Basic
European Earthquake Catalogue and a Database for the Evaluation of Long-term
Seismicity and Seismic Hazard, 1995-1998 (web site
http://emidius.mi.ingv.it/BEECD).

The analysis of the current catalogues are found at Task 1; problems concerning
their background are found at Task 2; problems concerning the earthquake
parameter determination are found at Task 5.













Acknowledgements

For data release and compilation, thanks are due (at this stage) to:

P. Albini, I. Leschiutta, C. Mirto, G. Morelli (Istituto di Ricerca sul Rischio
Sismico, CNR, Milano); 
R. Camassi, E. Ercolani (GNDT at Dipartimento di Ingegneria delle Strutture, Bologna); 
G. Grünthal (GeoForschungZentrum, Potsdam);
R.M.W. Musson (British Geological Survey, Edinburgh);
V. Kouskouna, K. Makropoulos (Department of Geophysics, University of Athens,
Athina);
R. Tatevossian (Institute of Physics of the Earth, Moskva).

Special thanks are due to C. Browitt, B. Feignier and F. Rivière, for
their constant encouragement to this initiative.

Thanks are due to M. Mucciarelli and A. Spinelli.






References



Karnik V., 1969-1971. Seismicity of the European area. Dordrecht, vol. I, 220
pp.; vol. II, 218 pp. 

Stucchi M., 1993. Through catalogues and historical records: an introduction to
the project "Review of Historical Seismicity in Europe". In: M. Stucchi (ed.),
Materials of the CEC project "Review of Historical Seismicity in Europe", CNR,
Milano, vol. 1, pp. 3-14.

Stucchi M. and Bonnin J., 1995. Earthquake catalogues in Europe: a GSHAP
survey. Proc. of XXIV ESC Gen. Assembly, Athina, 19-24 September 1994, pp.
1559-1569.

Stucchi M. and Camassi R., 1997. Building up a parametric earthquake catalogue
in Europe: the historical background. In: D. Giardini and S. Balassanian
(eds.), Historical and prehistorical earthquakes in the Caucasus. Dordrecht,
NATO ASI Series, 2 Environment, vol. 28, pp. 357-374.