Seismic microzoning using numerical modelling: the Umbria-Marche earthquake of 26 September 1997

After the Umbria-Marche (Central Italy) Ms 5.9 earthquake of 26 September 1997 the Italian Government decided that the amplification due to local effects had to be taken into account in repair and reconstruction. The area to be analysed was quite large, including about 1 000 villages, and the analysis had to be completed in about six months to avoid excessive delay in the starting of reconstruction; the available budget was also limited to about 1,550,000 euros.