In Europe and elsewhere the economically feasible water resources have been greatly developed until the 1970s. `?SC.KT
Although large dams belong to the first structures, which have been designed systematically against earthquakes ~(B%E'
since the 1930s, the seismic safety of these dams is unknown, as most of them have been designed using seismic >pe!T
aBN
design criteria and methods of analysis that are considered obsolete today. The fact that no major dams have 5rmQ:8_5
failed during earthquakes and that few lives have been lost (except in the case of tailings dam failures) may give n )\(\V7
the impression that well-designed dams are safe against earthquakes. We need to re-evaluate the seismic safety | GN/{KH]
of existing dams based on current state-of-the-art practice and rehabilitate existing dams if necessary. ^f9@ =I
Additionally, there are a large number of smaller dams, especially earth structures, which were built for p_)ttcpi1
irrigation or water supply by organisations or villagers with little experience in dam construction. Earthquake /:"^,i\t
effects on these dams have rarely been considered
