Analysis of exponent K based on “SHARE” project data and its implications on importance factors of EN 1998–1

Abstract

This contribution deals with seismic activity represented by a hazard curve through a single parameter–exponent k as given in EN 1998–1 and its implications on importance factors. We used the SHARE project dataset to calculate exponent k for the wider European area, and a limited number of separate national studies for comparison of the results since comparison to the SHARE results on the same dataset resulted in values of exponent k smaller by 1–1.5. The results indicate that the recommended value of exponent k of 3 is rather an exception than an expected value in seismically active regions and that, with the exclusion of the Vrancea zone, for the majority of Europe, exponent k is well below that assumed in EN 1998–1, which consequently indicates that the importance factors for these locations should be higher than those recommended in EN 1998–1.