Proposal of response spectra in the second generation of Eurocode EN 1998-1-1 for seismic areas and comparison with the existing standard EN 1998-1: 2004

Fundamental changes of the existing standard EN 1998-1, with incorporation of latest research results, are proposed in the second generation of Eurocode EN 1998-1-1. A spectrum of earthquake loads, defined by several points established in a probabilistic manner, is presented and commented on. In addition, the new EN 1998-1-1: a) introduces 12 return periods for earthquakes (instead of the previous two periods), b) cancels previous elastic spectra Type 1 and Type 2, c) introduces a new moment magnitude Mw instead of the surface magnitude Ms, d) introduces four limit states instead of the previous two NCR and DLR, etc.