Seismogeological effects on rocks during the 12 April 1998 upper Soča Territory earthquake (NW Slovenia)

On 12 April 1998, the strongest earthquake ( M L 5.7), with an epicentre in Slovenia, in the last 100 years shook the upper Soča Territory (NW Slovenia). Its maximum intensity was between VII and VIII according to the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98). Its epicentre is located in the area SE of the town of Bovec in the Krn mountain range (Julian Alps). Apart from substantial material damage to nearby settlements, the earthquake caused considerable changes to the landscape through many rockfalls and landslides. In this paper, we try to assess the effects of this event on the natural surroundings. The presented results are useful to understand the relation between “seismogeological” effects and the intensity scale EMS-98 for this particular event, but might also be a first step towards a future statistically meaningful assessment of the intensity scale on the basis of “seismogeological” effects.