Geohazard & seismic studies

Geo-hazards are site characteristics or environmental conditions that could potentially damage a facility. Examples are landslides, earthquakes, fault ruptures, tsunami and exceptionally strong storms.

The experience to identify, evaluate and mitigate these hazards combines geophysics, marine geology, sedimentology, engineering geology, geotechnical engineering, seismic engineering and numerical analyses to identify and provide a quantitative characterization of geo-hazards at a site. The results are used to implement mitigation measures and lower the overall risk profile of a project.

Deliverables

Geohazard

• Geophysical survey support
• Geophysical interpretation and mapping
• Core logging interpretation and dating
• Fault displacement hazard
• Seismic hazard assessment
• Induced seismicity evaluation
• Tsunami assessment
• Geo-hazard engineering
• Geo-hazard and risk assessment.

Data is organized and interpreted using the most advanced commercial platforms, IHS Kingdom, ArcGis (ESRI), SonarWiz, etc.

Seismic hazard assessment

• Ad hoc seismotectonic models
• Project specific earthquake catalogues, built combining regional and world-wide catalogues, including historical and instrumental records
• Evaluation of source seismicity, i.e. the rate of occurrence and the magnitude distribution of earthquakes within each seismic source
• Selection and implementation of Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs)
• Probabilistic evaluation of hazards (hazard integration/deaggregation, hazard contributions from individual sources, combined to define the annual probability of exceeding threshold values of PGA, spectral acceleration or velocity, and related uncertainty)
• Definition of seismic design data.

We perform seismic hazard analyses using the standard FRISK88M and EZ-FRISK codes and the open source software CRISIS and OpenQuake.

Why RINA?

With regard to geohazard, RINA project experience includes:

• Offshore platforms
• Deepwater pipelines and subsea facilities
• LNG terminals
• Ports and infrastructure
• Nuclear and conventional power plants.

Furthermore, we have performed seismic hazard assessments for over 100 major projects worldwide. Our expertise includes some of the most seismically active and tectonically complex areas of the planet (e.g. Chilean and Sumatran subduction zones), as well as stable continental regions (Baltic Sea, West African Craton).