In Europe and elsewhere the economically feasible water resources have been greatly developed until the 1970s. !:|[ ?M.`
Although large dams belong to the first structures, which have been designed systematically against earthquakes $G@ ^!(
since the 1930s, the seismic safety of these dams is unknown, as most of them have been designed using seismic 9G"-~C"e3
design criteria and methods of analysis that are considered obsolete today. The fact that no major dams have w;(B4 ^?
failed during earthquakes and that few lives have been lost (except in the case of tailings dam failures) may give R'1L%srTM+
the impression that well-designed dams are safe against earthquakes. We need to re-evaluate the seismic safety vg ^&j0
of existing dams based on current state-of-the-art practice and rehabilitate existing dams if necessary. QLum=YB
Additionally, there are a large number of smaller dams, especially earth structures, which were built for to"[r
irrigation or water supply by organisations or villagers with little experience in dam construction. Earthquake F}dq~QCzw
effects on these dams have rarely been considered
