Vita gazette – The countries with the greatest seismic risk in Europe were listed as Italy, Turkey, Greece, Albania and Romania. The riskiest cities on the earthquake map are Catania and Naples in Italy, Istanbul and Izmir in Turkey, Athens in Greece and Bucharest in Romania.

An international European team of seismologists, geologists and engineers, with the support of some members of the Swiss Seismological Service and of the seismology and geodynamics group of the Polytechnic of Zurich (ETH Zurich) has updated the risk model that has existed since 2013 and created a first risk model for the whole of Europe. The updated model confirmed that Italy Turkey, Greece, Albania and Romania are the countries with the greatest seismic risk in Europe, followed by the Balkans.

According to the 2020 European Seismic Risk Model (ESRM20), buildings built before 1980, urban areas and high seismic risk assessments are those that determine the greatest seismic risk. Although many European countries have recently defined codes and standards that ensure adequate protection from earthquakes, there are still many old buildings that are not reinforced or not sufficiently reinforced that put their inhabitants at high risk. The highest earthquake risks are concentrated in urban areas such as Istanbul and Izmir in Turkey, Catania and Naples in Italy, Bucharest in Romania, and Athens in Greece. In these four countries, around 80% of the estimated annual losses of 7 billion euros were recorded due to earthquakes in Europe. Cities such as Zagreb in Croatia, Tirana in Albania, Sofia in Bulgaria, Lisbon in Portugal, Brussels in Belgium and Basel in Switzerland also have an above-average level of seismic risk when compared with less exposed cities such as Berlin, London and Paris.