Erik Rüttener

EARTHQUAKE HAZARD EVALUATION FOR SWITZERLAND

Switzerland is a country with moderate seismic activity but high economic values at risk. So earthquake hazard analysis is of considerable importance. The evaluation of earthquake hazard, i.e. the determination of return periods versus ground motion parameters (in this case intensities), requires a description of earthquake occurrence in space and time. In this study the seismic hazard for major cities of Switzerland has been determined. A careful study of the earthquake catalogue has been done and uncertainty attributed to every parameter involved in the hazard analysis. In this purpose Bayesian statistic has been applied. The hazard curves have been compared to the results of a previous hazard study carried out in 1978.