Earthquakes and electrical equipment

In all countries there is either a zone of significant seismic activity or installations which require high security in order to operate (e.g. nuclear power stations, which generally have low seismic activity). In both cases the electrical and control and monitoring equipment must assure their safety functions correctly.
This technical paper aims to facilitate dialogue between operators and specialists. After briefly summarizing the earthquake phenomena and the way in which they are specified, the author presents the theoretic approach required for seismic withstand capabilities to be taken into account at the design stage.
Both design and qualification are, today, increasingly requiring numerical analysis and, as a result, powerful scientific and technical data processing methods.