The seismic cultures of Tuscany: Garfagnana, Lunigiana and Valtiberina

Populations living in seismic areas are often authors of their specific building culture, giving rise to regulations deduced from the architectural character of the built constructions. The method called "historical seismography" starts from a direct observation of the effects of earthquakes on existing built constructions, in pursuit of specific characteristics of the local seismic cultures and aiming at preserving the memory of vernacular building techniques in old towns. Therefore, it presents a support for the vulnerability analysis of the existing constructions as well as for studies on seismic risk within urban centres. In order to identify and systematize the appropriate preventive measures for the earthquake risk reduction, a database of images vast enough for carrying out comparisons and identifying recurrent situations is necessary. A first application of the method within a wide context concerned the area of Garfagnana and Lunigiana, subsequently, the analysis was extended to Valtiberina Toscana.