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Urban-scale Assessment of Soil–building Resonance Effects Using Ambient Noise Measurements in Matera, Southern Italy

Description: 

The interaction between built structures and urban shallow geology can significantly modify earthquake ground motions in urban environments. This study aims to bridge site-effect characterization and structural response analysis by investigating how building vibrations influence the urban seismic response and the potential occurrence of soil–building resonance during strong ground motion. The analysis focuses to evaluate the interaction between the near-surface urban geology and the overlying building stock in the city of Matera (southern Italy). A dataset of 230 single-station ambient noise measurements was collected, including 134 recordings on the main surface lithologies and 96 on representative building typologies.

The spectral analysis of soil and building recordings allowed us to estimate the fundamental frequencies and associated amplitudes of both shallow soils and overlying buildings. A linear relationship between building height and fundamental period, experimentally derived from the dataset, was used to estimate the natural frequencies of the entire building stock in Matera. By combining frequency information from both urban soils and buildings, a citywide soil–building resonance map was constructed assuming linear elastic behaviour. Results highlight that the first resonance frequency of many buildings coincides with that of the underlying soils. Approximately 21% of the buildings show a high probability of resonance, 63% a moderate level, and 16% a low or negligible level. The proposed approach enables the identification and mapping of urban areas with different degree of probabilities of soil–building resonance, providing a valuable tool for city-scale seismic hazard assessment and risk mitigation.

Session: Earthquake Ground Motions and Structural Response: Emerging Tools and Applications - II

Type: Oral

Date: 4/16/2026

Presentation Time: 11:30 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Maria Rosaria Gallipoli

Student Presenter: No

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