An evaluation of Cultural Heritage sites according to the map of Seismic Hazard

Minerva Repository > Case Studies > An evaluation of Cultural Heritage sites according to the map of Seismic Hazard

Introduction

Earthquakes affect our everyday lives and when they occur, they often cause casualties and damage on infrastructure, including Cultural Heritage sites. There have been many earthquakes in the past. One of the most known earthquakes took place in 1895 in Slovenia, when an earthquake damaged the capital city of Ljubljana. The Ljubljana basin is one of the most endangered areas according to seismic activity. Another endangered area is NW Slovenia. In the Breginj area (W Slovenia), there were many earthquakes in the past, including the one in 1976 (known as Friuli earthquake). Also in other areas (e.g. L’Aquila, Italy; Petrinja, Croatia) earthquakes caused a lot of damage.

Aims

The aim of the case study is to collect data on Cultural Heritage sites in Slovenia, select and extract sites classified as buildings, and intersect them with a map of Seismic Hazard (Design ground acceleration) in order to assess the most endangered locations of buildings listed in the Register of Slovene Cultural Heritage.

Level of Competence

Basic to advanced.

Skills to Be Learned

Management of datasets: downloading and opening datasets.
Querying: selecting CH units that are marked as ‘buildings’
Spatial analysis (with vector data): intersecting data layers (data on seismic hazard and data on CH register)
Presentation of results: preparing a table with a list of CH units withrelated seismic hazard and producing a simple map

Workflow

graph TB id1([QGIS Project]):::box id1 --> id2([Adding Data]):::box id2 --> id3([Exploring Data, Quick Visualization]):::box id3 --> id4([Filtering Data of Interest]):::box id4 --> id5([Spatial Join]):::box id5 --> id6([Print Layout]):::box click id3 "https://oleroy.gitpages.huma-num.fr/minerva/project/explo_quick_viz/" click id4 "https://oleroy.gitpages.huma-num.fr/minerva/project/selection_filter/" click id5 "https://oleroy.gitpages.huma-num.fr/minerva/project/spatial_join/" classDef box fill:#fcb900,color:#fff,stroke-width:0px; classDef arrow fill:#fafafa,color:#555;

Data

The map of Seismic Hazard – Design ground acceleration

Description of data (according to Šket Motnikar and Zupančič 2016²): Seismic hazard is assigned according to the probability of the occurrence of earthquakes. It is estimated based on past earthquakes and on seismotectonic knowledge. The best prevention against earthquakes is seismic-resistant building in accordance with regulations and seismic hazard maps. The Design Ground Acceleration Map refers to a 475-year return period and rock ground type (EC8 ground type A). EC8 soil factors should be applied for other ground types. The return period is the average time between two earthquakes that cause exceeding of the given value at a given location. The return period of 475 years corresponds to a 10% probability of exceedance over 50 years, which is presumed to be the ordinary lifetime of a building. Design ground acceleration values are arranged in zones and rounded up to their upper value.

Data available at: Slovenian Environment Agency, Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Republic of Slovenia

Links:

See data viewer at this web page
Data available at this web page

Register of immovable cultural heritage – selection of locations of immovable cultural heritage

Description of data: The Register of immovable cultural heritage (si. Register nepremične kulturne dediščine) is an official collection of data regarding immovable cultural heritage for the area of the Republic of Slovenia. Each unit of the register has its ID number (EŠD). The units are classified in different types (buildings, archaeological sites, parks and gardens etc.). Please, note that cultural heritage data, freely available at OPSI portal³ has a selection of units.

Data available at: Ministry of culture, Republic of Slovenia

Links:

Slovenian municipalities

Description of data: Slovenia is formally divided in 212 municipalities⁴.

Data available at: Surveying and Mapping Authority, Republic of Slovenia:

Links (Registration required!)