GLI TSUNAMI E LA VULNERABILITÀ DELL'AMBIENTE URBANO

The analysis of tsunami catalogues and of data published on NOAA web site pointed out that in the Mediterranean basin from 2000 years B.C. to present about 480 tsunamis occurred of which at least a third involved the Italian peninsula.Within this framework we present a GIS-aided procedure that takes advantage of spatial analysis to apply the Papathoma Tsunami Vulnerability Assessment model at urban scale, aiming at assessing the vulnerability of wide areas at spatial resolution of the census district.The method was applied to the sector of Napoli city enclosed between the Posillipo hill and the Somma-Vesuvio volcano because of the high population rates (apex value of 5000 inh/km2) and potential occurrence of hazardous events as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and mass failures that can trigger tsunamis. The vulnerability status of the urban environment was depicted into a map. About the 21% of the study area, corresponding with the lowlands along the shoreline, shows a very high tsunami vulnerability high vulnerability characterizes the 26% of territory while medium-low vulnerability typifies a wide area of the Sebeto-Volla plain, ca 800 m far from the shoreline. This map results a good tool to plan the actions aimed at reducing risk and promote resilience of the territory.