{"id":45325,"date":"2026-07-15T07:33:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T06:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eucentre.it\/?p=45325"},"modified":"2026-07-15T10:58:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:58:45","slug":"multi-hazard-risk-assessment-eucentre-matrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eucentre.it\/en\/multi-hazard-risk-assessment-eucentre-matrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Eucentre in the MATRICS Project: Innovative Methodologies for Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Multi-hazard damage assessment represents one of the most complex and urgent challenges in safeguarding urban settlements and critical infrastructure. In this context, the Eucentre Foundation is officially joining the MATRICS (Multi-hazard Assessment of TRIggered and Compound riskS) project, the new and ambitious research programme of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), funded under the ministerial \u2018Pianeta Dinamico 2026\u20132029\u2019 fund. The Foundation will contribute its expertise to the development of integrated scientific approaches and next-generation computational tools.<\/p>\n

Eucentre\u2019s role: from theoretical model to software platform<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The scientific coordination of Eucentre\u2019s participation is led by Barbara Borzi, the Foundation\u2019s Director of Research. The activities will be organised around two synergistic areas of work, aimed at transforming theoretical research into operational solutions for local authorities and the scientific community:<\/p>\n

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  • Development of advanced methodological frameworks: the aim is to quantify cumulative or simultaneous structural damage when earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides and soil liquefaction interact within the same area.<\/li>\n
  • Development of a dedicated software platform: an advanced computational tool that will put these methodologies into practice. The code will be released incrementally to monitor and validate the progress of the various stages of the research.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Eucentre\u2019s established expertise in earthquake engineering and the assessment of the built environment\u2019s vulnerability is thus extended to include the phenomena of triggering, cascading effects and the compounding of multiple natural hazards.<\/p>\n

    The MATRICS project and the scientific consortium<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The MATRICS project is coordinated at the national level by Lucia Luzi, Research Director at the INGV. The scientific consortium brings together the multidisciplinary expertise of ten Italian universities, the Politecnico di Milano, Brigham Young University in the United States, and Eucentre, combining seismology, geology, structural modelling and data science. This integration of expertise is a key component of the partnership, enabling a truly multidisciplinary approach to risk assessment when multiple natural hazards affect the same territory.<\/p>\n

    Field validation: the Strait of Messina and Emilia-Romagna<\/b><\/h2>\n

    The theoretical models and software tools developed within the MATRICS project will be applied and calibrated in two Italian pilot areas characterised by extremely high geological and seismic complexity:<\/p>\n

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    1. The Strait of Messina: an ideal natural laboratory for studying cascade effects, historically affected by the 1908 catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.<\/li>\n
    2. Emilia-Romagna: an area characterised by the 2012 seismic sequence, which is crucial for analysing cumulative damage and soil liquefaction phenomena.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The choice of these areas ensures rigorous validation of the methodologies. The results of the research, which will be carried out over a four-year period, will lay the foundations for a new approach to disaster prevention and emergency management, both in Italy and in similar international contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>