African Catalogue of Earthquakes (ACE)

The African Catalogue of Earthquakes (ACE) Project aims to establish a comprehensive earthquake catalog for the African continent to understand earthquake distribution and assess seismic hazards. Earthquakes pose a constant threat to several African countries, whether in North Africa, South Africa, East Africa, or West-Central Africa, causing loss of life and significant economic damage. Factors such as urbanization, development of critical infrastructure, and population concentration in hazardous areas have increased the need for accurate seismic hazard assessments. The project methodology involves retrieving and revising both macroseismic and instrumental data, standardizing seismicity assessment, completing available data, and creating a comprehensive earthquake catalog. The catalog includes information such as date, time, location, focal depth, magnitudes, epicentral intensity, and references for each earthquake. The seismicity of Africa is analyzed in different seismotectonic regions based on plate boundaries and geological features. The project involves relocating hypocenters, determining magnitudes, and developing intensity-attenuation relationships specific to each seismotectonic region. Plate-kinematic modeling using focal mechanisms and GPS data helps understand tectonic plate motions in the region. Documentary sources, seismological bulletins, and seismograms are used to gather information on past earthquakes. Intensity assessment is performed using established intensity scales as Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik (MSK) or European macroseismic (EMS98), and isoseismal maps are constructed to visualize intensity distribution. Calibration of historical earthquakes involves establishing magnitude-intensity relationships. The final output is a comprehensive earthquake catalog for Africa, providing homogeneous, complete, and accurate data for seismic hazard and risk evaluations. The project enhances the understanding of current tectonic activity and enables long-term seismic hazard assessments. It also emphasizes the importance of modern space-geodetic methods for seismic research. The methodology and data processing ensure a high degree of homogeneity for the continent, resulting in a valuable resource for seismic hazard assessment. Keywords: Historical seismicity, Macroseismic data, Instrumental seismicity, Magnitude determination, intensity estimation, Africa, Catalogue of Earthquakes. Seismic hazard assessments.