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The Internet Site for European Strong-Motion Data (ISESD) provides unlimited free access to over 2,000 strong-motion records of earthquakes from Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East (EMME). Four mirror sites of ISESD have been operating since 26th March 2002. The URLs of these sites are: www.isesd.cv.ic.ac.uk, smbase.itsak.gr, seismo.univ.trieste.it and www.isesd.hi.is. ISESD provides a basis for improved dissemination of strong-motion data in EMME. There are a number of future improvements to ISESD which would improve its usefulness to seismologists, earthquake engineers and insurance specialists.

Due to copyright restrictions, the access to the full text of this article is only available via subscription. The design acceleration spectrum requires site investigations and site-response analyses in accordance with the local seismic hazard. The variability in earthquake source and path effects may be considered using a large number of acceleration records compatible with the earthquake hazard. An important step is the selection and scaling of input acceleration records. Likewise, a large number of soil profiles need to be considered to account for the variability of site conditions. One option is to use Monte Carlo simulations with respect to layer thickness and shear wave velocity profiles to account for the variability of the site factors. The local seismic hazard analysis yields a uniform hazard acceleration spectrum on the bedrock outcrop. Site-specific response analyses also need to produce a uniform hazard acceleration spectrum on the ground surface. A simplified approach is proposed to define acceleration design spectrum on the ground surface that may be considered a uniform hazard spectrum.