New seismic microzonation studies in Albania: from the past to the future

The cities of Durrës, Thumanë, Tirana, Vora, Shijak and their villages suffered considerable damage after the earthquakes of 21 September, 2019 (Mw 5.4) and 26 November, 2019 (Mw 6.2). The 26 November earthquake caused the deaths of 51 people and damaged hundreds of buildings. Damage caused by these earthquakes has been, in some cases, significantly worsened by the characteristics of the earthquake ground motion affected by the local subsurface soil structure in both cities. The aim of this paper is to highlight the geophysical and engineering-geological methods, which take into account the geological and geomorphological characteristics of the local subsoil, for an effective seismic microzonation study.