This research deals with the local seismic amplification analysis in the industrial district of the Sulmona basin (Central Italy) using both the Nakamura’s HVSR technique and the 1-D numerical simulation computed with Shake91 code. An extensive geognostic database allowed to make out the geometries of the subsurface layers up to a depth of 50 m and cross-hole tests led to characterize the dynamic proprieties of terrenes, namely the shear waves velocities values. Noise measurements were collected in the 0.1-10 Hz frequency domain and data were used to calibrate the 1-D simulations, performed using as source a seismic record of M=5.5. The results obtained point out that local site effects are present in the central and eastern part of the basin, an area which is likely to be interested by a major industrial development in the future. Moreover, the comparison between the 1-D simulation spectra and the spectra of project provided in the Italian normative, enhances that in these areas the expected response is underestimated in the frequencies range of building interest.

The seismic protection of structures by means of seismic isolation and energy dissipation systems is by now a practice frequently used in civil engineering field. The applications to industrial plants, however are still few, in spite of their high seismic vulnerability.

For this reason INAIL ex ISPESL, which operates in industrial safety field, has promoted and developed research activity, which aim is the study of the applicability of seismic isolation and energy dissipation to industrial plants subjected to site seismic risk and site amplification phenomena.