In Europe and elsewhere the economically feasible water resources have been greatly developed until the 1970s. U1@ P/
Although large dams belong to the first structures, which have been designed systematically against earthquakes Y{\2wU!Isn
since the 1930s, the seismic safety of these dams is unknown, as most of them have been designed using seismic 1,sO =p)Yg
design criteria and methods of analysis that are considered obsolete today. The fact that no major dams have vN[m5)aT
failed during earthquakes and that few lives have been lost (except in the case of tailings dam failures) may give r;s3( @[,@
the impression that well-designed dams are safe against earthquakes. We need to re-evaluate the seismic safety @x\gk5
of existing dams based on current state-of-the-art practice and rehabilitate existing dams if necessary. ~o \ ]K
Additionally, there are a large number of smaller dams, especially earth structures, which were built for #
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irrigation or water supply by organisations or villagers with little experience in dam construction. Earthquake WW
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effects on these dams have rarely been considered
