SEISMIC RISK | The scientific collaboration project between Italy and New Zealand within the CATALYST-seeding program has concluded.

 The two-year project has concluded "Capturing site amplification in seismic design: pilot study investigating seismic site amplification at stations of the NZ seismic network" which saw scientific collaboration between Italy and New Zealand to carry out a study on a regional scale of local seismic amplification effectsThe initiative was born from the collaboration between Earth Science New Zealand (ESNZ), the study's lead partner, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), and the University of Genoa.

The research was funded by the New Zealand Government under the CATALYST programme.-seeding, aimed at promoting collaborations between international research institutions and universities. The project was also included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between INGV and ESNZ for the four-year period 2023-2027.

The analysis conducted on the New Zealand seismic network has highlighted that approximately 50% of the stations considered are affected by site amplification, a figure in line with what was observed in studies conducted by the INGV on the Italian seismic network. Interesting findings were also observed pattern of amplification in particular geological or morphological contexts, such as in fault zones, in volcanic areas and on morphological irregularities.

The results of the project, already presented internally in Rome and Wellington at the respective INGV and ESNZ offices, will be shared with the scientific community at the next SSA conference (Seismological Society of America), which will take place from 14 to 17 April in Pasadena (USA), to be the subject of a subsequent publication. 

Useful links:

National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) 

Earth Science New Zealand (ESNZ)

University of the Studies in Genova

SSA 2026 Annual Meeting