Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle European Science Foundation Conference November 28 to December 1, 2011, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain

Occurrence and impact of characteristic earthquakes in northern Algeria

Youcef Bouhadad
"Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania, maria.bostenaru@iaim.ro

Characteristic earthquakes are extreme seismic events where almost the total length, which implies several segments, of an active fault is involved in the rupture. Such events are characterized by long return periods but with large magnitudes and/or intensities and, therefore, with great societal impact. Many cities in northern Algeria are still threatened by the occurrence of such strong events. The Zemmouri 2003 (Mw =6.9) earthquake revealed a previously unknown 50 km-length offshore located fault. Many other major geological structures remain insufficiently understood. We aim in this work to present the main possible sources of such strong events and discuss their impact on the built environment through past examples.