Mapping and cataloguing earthquake environmental effects for seismic hazard assessment: The contribution of remote sensing techniques

The traditional approach for seismic intensity assessment based mostly on effects on humans and manmade structures often results poorly constrained, especially in the epicentral area of strong-to-large earthquakes (intensity degree >IX) when damage to structures may be frequently afflicted by saturation, and in sparsely populated areas. The application of the recent ESI intensity scale, which uses characteristics and distribution of earthquake environmental effects to evaluate seismic intensity, has confirmed that this approach provides more complete and reliable images of earthquakes, being environmental effects more closely related to the earthquake size. Remote sensing techniques (multispectral images, hi-res DEMs from IFSAR and LIDAR data, InSAR images) play a crucial role in mapping earthquake environmental effects. Therefore, seismic intensity assessments based on environmental effects are expected to strongly benefit from the regular application of remote sensing techniques to recent earthquakes and, in perspective, to the earthquakes that will occur in the next future.