Seismic response of historical centers in Italy: selected case studies

The paper is a comprehensive collection of up-to-date case studies of seismic response of historical towns, located in dominant positions and affected by either ancient or recent strong-motion earthquakes. The centers of Benevento, Orvieto, Nicastro, Gerace, San Giuliano di Puglia have been characterised in terms of seismic hazard, subsoil model, ground motion simulation for maximum historical earthquakes. The results of 1D and 2D simulations point out the specific influence and the interplay of different factors, in particular the seismic input motion, the bedrock geometry, the soil layering and the surface topography.