Environmental Seismic Intensity scale

The international effort to develop a new scale of macroseismic intensity that would focus exclusively on environmental effects of earthquakes began in the early 1990s and was sponsored by the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA).

Like many other intensity scales, ESI 2007 uses the basic structure of twelve degrees of seismic intensity and is designed for application during field surveys immediately after the seismic event.

However, the definitions of intensity degrees in ESI 2007 are based on the observation of distribution and size of environmental effects produced by an earthquake.

This approach makes ESI 2007 a unique diagnostic tool for the assessment of seismic intensity levels X to XII in sparsely populated and uninhibited areas where earthquake effects on people and built environment may not be easily observed.

Since 2007, the scale has been applied to modern, historical and paleoearthquakes in the frame of the INQUA TERPRO Commission on Paleoseismology and Active tectonics.