PSI - Issue 78

Guerino Liberatore et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1071–1078

1074

traffic. Instead, the decision to halt road traffic in the affected area is postponed until after these technical inspections by personnel are completed. From an engineering perspective, the current post-earthquake inspection procedure in Italy is flawed. There's a significant risk that emergency vehicles dispatched immediately after an earthquake could encounter blocked or severely damaged roads before technical personnel have inspected them.

Fig. 1. Graphic representation of the "magnitude-distance" procedure.

The need to quickly assess a vast number of structures of varying sizes means that subjective factors and the emotional context of the moment can heavily influence the assessment, leading to inconsistencies compared to evaluations made under normal conditions. Furthermore, the current methodology for risk assessment only considers the immediate effects of the seismic event, entirely overlooking predisposing factors such as pre-existing structural conditions or local phenomena. 5. A new governance model for seismic risk prevention and mitigation 5.1. Introduction of a situational dashboard For these reasons, the aim of the proposed method is to develop, in peacetime, a "situational dashboard" that can promptly estimate the likelihood of road infrastructure damage following the occurrence of an earthquake of a given intensity at a specific location. This system graphically constructs expected damage scenarios, which are available virtually in real time. These scenarios are useful to those coordinating and managing the emergency response, allowing them to optimize (in the short term) the dispatch of ground transport vehicles - some of which are quite large - that carry all the resources necessary to respond to the emergency (rescue teams, specialized equipment, food supplies, medicine, etc.). The deployed resources originate from coordination centers activated at the regional or national level depending on the severity of the crisis. These resources are typically staged in logistical hubs located near the areas most affected by the earthquake - areas that have maintained sufficient operational standards and remain easily accessible. The emergency response system (comprising Civil Protection personnel, Firefighters, Law Enforcement, Health Services, Volunteers, and others) is a complex and multifaceted network made up of public and private entities operating at various territorial levels (local, regional, national, and even international, depending on the scale of the event). These actors work together to manage the emergency and deliver aid, with the primary goal of ensuring a rapid, efficient, and coordinated response.