The metropolitan area of Athens, with a population of about 4 million people, is the capital urban center of Greece, concentrating around 70% of the total industrial and commercial activity of the country. In addition, it is one of the world's most important cultural centers, with the presence of many classical archaeological sites and monuments. In the overall seismic hazard map of Greece (e.g. Papadopoulos and Kijko, 1991) the area of Athens is characterized by an intermediate hazard level, given that other seismic zones are more active with more frequent strong earthquakes. However the seismic activity which is noted in the metropolitan area of Athens is socially very important because of the high level of human activity and infrastructure exposed to the risk. In modern history, Athens has been hit by two strong and destructive earthquake sequences. The first occurred from 24 February to 4 March 1981 with a series of three shocks of magnitude 6.8, 6.4 and 6.3. This activity developed at epicentral distances ranging between 50 and 70 km from Athens' historical center. The three earthquakes resulted in 26 victims and extensive destruction over a broad area of Athens. The second sequence consisted of a main shock (magnitude 5.9), that occurred on 7 September 1999, and many aftershocks. The epicenter was located only 20 km from the historical center. The death toll was 141 due to many building collapses, while the total destruction caused was the worst ever observed in modern Greece.

The seismic monitoring of Greece at a national level is performed on a 24-hour basis by the telemetric national seismograph system of the Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens. This system consists of 30 permanent stations, twenty-two of which are digital, equipped with broadband seismometers. Five of these stations are installed in the metropolitan area of Athens.

SAFER has an objective of studying the implementation of a new broadband seismic network in the Athens and Gulf of Corinth areas (WP1) and to produce a shake map of Athens combining stochastic strong-motion simulation results with PGA values deduced from real-time seismological and strong motion data stream (WP4).