Seismic zones map - France

What are the French seismic zones according to Eurocode 8 ?

In France, the division is specified in the law (not in the national annex). The French metropolitan area is divided into four seismic zones identified from 1 to 4 (The map below was created from this data).

Zone 1 2 3 4
Seismicity Very low Low Moderate Medium
Seismicityagr 0.4 m/s2 0.7 m/s2 1.1 m/s2 1.6 m/s2

Seismic zoning of France (2015-2024)

The French overseas departments, overseas territories and overseas collectivities each have a specific seismicity.

Zone French Guiana Reunion Island Mayotte Island Martinique Island Guadeloupe Island
Seismicity Very low Low Moderate Strong Strong
Reference peak ground acceleration on rock >agr 0.4 m/s2 0.7 m/s2 1.1 m/s2 3.0 m/s2 3.0 m/s2
Seismicity of overseas departments
Zone Saint Pierre and Miquelon New Caledonia Wallis and Futuna Saint Martin Saint Barths
Seismicity Very low Moderate Strong Strong Strong
Reference peak ground acceleration on rock >agr 0.4m/s2 1.1m/s2 3.0m/s2 3.0m/s2 3.0m/s2
Seismicity of overseas territories and overseas collectivities

Is my new building concerned ?

You can check if your building is concerned on the french regulations on LEGIFRANCE Here is the summary:

Zone/Importance class Normal risk Special risk
I II III IV
Zone 1 No Yes
Zone 2 No Yes
Zone 3 No Yes
Zone 4 No Yes
Zone 5 No Yes

Example of results given by the software

See the features of Eurocodes Zoning for snow analysis in France

Available in English/French, otherwise «Google Translate»!

B1 - Localization

Coordinates in World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84)  3.5332°, 45.7153°
Coordinates in French Geodetic System 1993 (Lambert 93)  741482m, 6512993m
Address D 304A, 63120 Sauviat, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

B2 - Elevations

Distances / Direction At the place of construction 500m 1000m
North 436 m 360m 407m
Northeast 405m 465m
East 456m 473m
Southeast 419m 446m
South 449m 476m
Southwest 432m 411m
West 360m 468m
Northwest 403m 452m

B3 - Building

monumental building
100 years
15.0 m
80°

B4 - Terrain categories

Sectors 1 2 3 4
Categories IIIa IV IV IV
Radius R of the angular sector 593m

C1 - Snow

NF EN 1991-1-3/NA (may 2007) + A1 (july 2011)

Zone  : A2(sk,0 = 0.45 kN/m²)
Criteria for zoning  : PUY-DE-DOME (63)
Characteristic value of snow on the ground at the relevant site  : sk,436 = 0.686 kN/m²
Ground snow load with a return period of 100 years  : s100 ans = 0.774 kN/m²
Design value of exceptional snow load on the ground  : sad = 1.0 kN/m²

C2 - Wind

NF EN 1991-1-4/NA (march 2008) + A1 (july 2011) + A2 (september 2012) + A3 (april 2019)

Zone  : 2(vb,0 = 24.0 m/s)
Criteria for zoning  : PUY-DE-DOME (63)
Zone  cdir : 1
Sectors 1 2 3 4
Sector definition from  35 °  to  125 ° from  125 °  to  215 ° from  215 °  to  305 ° from  305 °  to  35 °
Fundamental value of the basic wind velocity  vb,0 24.0m/s
Shape parameter  K 0.2
Exponent n 0.5
Annual probability of exceedence p 0.01
Probability factor  cprob 1.038
Directional factor  cdir 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0
Basic wind velocity  vb 17.4m/s 24.9m/s 24.9m/s 24.9m/s
Reference roughness length  z0,II 0.05m
Roughness length  z0 0.2m 1.0m 1.0m 1.0m
Terrain factor  kr 0.209 0.234 0.234 0.234
Height above ground z 15.0m
Minimum height  zmin 5.0m 15.0m 15.0m 15.0m
Roughness factor  cr(z) 0.904 0.635 0.635 0.635
Orography factor  * co(z) 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Mean wind velocity  vm(z) 15.8m/s 15.8m/s 15.8m/s 15.8m/s
Turbulence factor  kl 0.97 0.854 0.854 0.854
Standard deviation of the turbulence  σv 3.544m/s 4.989m/s 4.989m/s 4.989m/s
Turbulence intensity  Iv(z) 0.225 0.315 0.315 0.315
Air density  ρ 1.225kg/m3
Exposure factor  ce(z) 2.102 1.292 1.292 1.292
Peak velocity pressure qp(z) 392.0N/m2 491.5N/m2 491.5N/m2 491.5N/m2
Peak wind velocity for Serviceability Limit States  vp(z),SLS 91.1km/h 102.0km/h 102.0km/h 102.0km/h
Peak wind velocity for Ultimate Limit States  vp(z),ULS 111.5km/h 124.9km/h 124.9km/h 124.9km/h
* Here, the orography factor is calculated according to Procedure 1, for an orography consisting of obstacles of various heights and shapes. This type of orography is the most frequently encountered.However, if the building is in a case of orography consisting of well individualized obstacle (isolated hills and ridges or cliffs and escarpments) the orography factor must be calculated according to the procedure 2. According to EN 1991-1-4 §4.3.3(1), the calculated orography factor (1.018) is not taken into account because it does not increase wind velocities by more than 5%%.

C3 - Seism

Code of the Environment - Article D563-8-1 (09/01/2015) JORF n°0248 of 24/10/2010 text N°5

Zone  : 3(1.1 m/s²)
Criteria for zoning  : Sauviat, Puy-de-Dome (63)
A seismic analysis may be required for this building.