Estimation of the Buildings Seismic Vulnerability: A Methodological Proposal for Planning Ante-Earthquake Scenarios in Urban Areas

In spite of the enhancements related to building construction, many regions still present a major level of seismic risk as a consequence of the high vulnerability of the urban configuration of their cities. An improved method to assess the seismic vulnerability of buildings in urban areas is propose...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApplied sciences Vol. 8; no. 7; p. 1208
Main Authors Ródenas, José, García-Ayllón, Salvador, Tomás, Antonio
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2018
Subjects
Aseismic buildings
Buildings
Calibration
Civil engineering
Construction
Correlation analysis
Ductility
Earthquake damage
Earthquakes
Elevation
emergency planning
Environmental risk
Evaluation
Fuzzy sets
Ground motion
Masonry
Methods
Parameter modification
Planning
post-earthquake management
Risk analysis
Risk assessment
Seismic activity
Seismic analysis
Seismic engineering
Seismic hazard
Seismic surveys
seismic vulnerability assessment
Urban areas
United States > US
Italy
Spain
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Summary:In spite of the enhancements related to building construction, many regions still present a major level of seismic risk as a consequence of the high vulnerability of the urban configuration of their cities. An improved method to assess the seismic vulnerability of buildings in urban areas is proposed in this contribution in order to advance the management of seismic emergency scenarios. The methodology, mainly based on the cadastral database, allows for a more standardized implementation as a function on the typological, structural, and urban parameters of the buildings, reducing the level of uncertainties linked to these methodologies and giving continuity to the different RISK-UE published works. The generalization of the method to any urban area has also been improved by means of removing the parameters whose calibration is associated with a specific area. The methodology has been put into practice in the urban area of the city of Lorca (SE Spain), in the aftermath of the earthquake of 11 May 2011, due to the availability of well-documented data reported from this seismic event. The proposal, when it is combined with Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, provides valuable information for the planning and management of post-earthquake emergency situations.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app8071208