The importance of paleoseismology in seismic hazard studies for critical facilities

This paper is intended to provide a perspective on the use of paleoseismological studies in the seismic hazard assessment of critical facilities, such as dams, chemical/petrochemical facilities and nuclear power plants. In particular, the use of data obtained from paleoseismological studies for probabilistic seismic hazard analyses, when the required probabilities of exceedance are very low (e.g. 10− 6-10− 7) is considered. Recent revisions to the IAEA Safety Standards that provide guidance to Member States in their work related to the seismic safety of nuclear power plants are presented to illustrate the importance of this emerging discipline.