Overestimation of historical earthquake magnitudes in the Near East due to common site effects

These results imply that intensity-based magnitude evaluation of Near East historical earthquakes that are based on reported damage from cities built on archeological mounds, might be biased and could lead to over-estimations of past earthquake magnitudes. Furthermore, many old residential quarters of modern Near Eastern cities are commonly founded on such mounds and might be exposed to a higher seismic hazard than nearby modern neighborhoods, thus requiring special attention in seismic hazard mitigation programs and seismic design.