International meeting on the 40th anniversary of the 1980 earthquake: a week of reflection

Congresso Internacional 40 anos do sismo dos Açores de 1980

Start Date: 06 Oct 2020

End Date: 07 Oct 2020

Country: Portugal

Location of event: Lisboa

Full virtual conference through ZOOM Venue

The “International meeting on the 40th anniversary of the 1980 earthquake: a week of reflection, (40/80)” will take place at the Angra do Heroísmo Cultural and Congress Center in Terceira Island, the Azores from October 5 to 10, 2020.

The theme of the 40|80 is to remind the 40 years of a devastating earthquake that affect mainly Terceira Island but also Graciosa and São Jorge Island. At 40|80, the organisers would promote a state-of-the-art of the seismicity in general but also topics like volcanic seismicity, tsunamis, historical seismicity, crustal deformation, tsunamis, seismic hazard and risk. Since earthquakes cause economic and social losses, topics like case studies on the rehabilitation of buildings, retrofit techniques of heritage monuments, an overview of Eurocodes and construction codes, social and economic aspects are paramount to understand their impact and how to mitigate them. Thus, the organisers would like at 40|80 to provide the time and place where attendees from around the world can share their experience and knowledge to build disaster-resilient societies and to create new directions through integrating various fields

The 40|80 will also offer the opportunity to observe the fully recovered areas affected by January 1, 1980, Terceira earthquake. The rehabilitation of Angra do Heroismo city, preserving their architecture and functions was classified as a Work Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983. This opportunity will contribute to sharing experiences and ideas for building resilient cities in earthquake-prone areas.

The program of 40|80 includes keynotes sessions, poster sessions, a course for young researchers, exhibition, a short field trip through the beautiful Terceira Island. The organisers are developing efforts to publish in a journal of speciality.

Angra do Heroismo is the oldest city of the Archipelago, founded in 1478, and during some time served as the capital city of Portugal during the Philippine dynasty. Moreover, the coastal area of the town experienced the effects of the tsunami generated by the Lisbon earthquake (1755).