site.btaSofia Hosts Working Meeting of AdriaArray Initiative with World-Renowned Seismologists

A working meeting of the AdriaArray Initiative was opened on Tuesday in the auditorium of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski''. The meeting is being held from March 12 to 15. The organizers of the meeting are the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics at the Faculty of Physics of Sofia University and the Bulgarian Geophysical Society.

AdriaArray is an initiative that brings together the efforts of more than 200 research centres from over 30 countries in Europe. They investigate the Earth's structure, geodynamics and seismicity around both the Adriatic plate and the Balkan Peninsula with great resolution.

Representatives from all the seismic networks in Eastern Europe, as well as leading earth-structure scientists from Western Europe, are taking part in the meeting in Sofia. The opening ceremony at Sofia University was attended by some of them, including Prof. Andrea Morelli and Prof. Jaroslava Plomerova, who was accompanied by almost her entire research group. Representatives for Bulgaria in the initiative are Sofia University and the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

One of the important highlights to be discussed is improving the accuracy of earthquake localization and magnitude estimation, as well as their subsequent attachment to active geological structures. As a second highlight, high-resolution ground structure studies will be discussed.

The coordinator of the initiative is Prof. Thomas Mayer. Director of the International Seismic Centre Dmitry Storchak is also expected to participate in the meeting.

The aim of the event is not only to present advances in the installation of seismic stations and their data processing, but also to establish a lasting scientific exchange between scientists from Western and Eastern Europe. These links will form the basis for future collaborative projects within the initiative, the organizers said.