Emilia 2012: earthquake and the need of accounting for multi-hazard design paradigm for strategic infrastructures

This study provides some insights into the seismic events of Emilia 2012, with an emphasis on the emblematic case of the severely damaged water lifting plants in the area of the mainshocks of the earthquake. The examined case studies point out the extreme vulnerability of such strategic infrastructures from combined natural hazards, which in areas densely populated, can cause enormous costs in terms of human loss and goods destruction, and the need of revising existing design codes to include multi-hazard paradigms.