Forensic Investigations of Geohazards: The Norcia 2016 Earthquake

Abstract

Earthquakes represent one of the world’s most significant hazards in terms of damage to human and animal life, and property. Earthquakes also cause many other related fatalities and damage to urban structures. This paper presents the forensic investigation of failures induced by the Norcia 2016 earthquake in Italy. The detailed geophysical field investigations were carried out at selected locations in two cities: Rome and Amelia. The places of investigation were 150 km and 90 km, respectively, from the epicenter. A ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey was carried out at the sites to highlight structural failures, and included a partially damaged urban bridge, and the cracked wall of a private house. These failures have been discussed with reference to the field measurements carried out. In both cases, the GPR radargram showed clear lesions along with their geometry and location. This forensic geoscientific analysis highlights the importance of detecting structural damage immediately after a geohazard event to help plan proper interventions, efforts to prevent human losses and help law enforcement to focus their forensic investigations.